


Darkness Round the Sun

by michebellaxo



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Infidelity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2018-05-30 05:32:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6410809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michebellaxo/pseuds/michebellaxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a sequel to Our Missing Christmas. Regina must face the reality of the choice she and David made at Christmas during the missing year. (Missing year fic) How will they handle the unexpected consequences that follow? Evil Charming. (Rated M for later chapters).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think!

Just less than three months had passed since Christmas Day, and Regina and the others had settled fully into their routine. They got up each day, most of the men heading out for a perimeter check, while Granny and some of the other women spent time making breakfast and preparing for lunch. Snow often watched the children, though there were only a few of them. Regina and Belle mostly spent their days in the library, the latter searching for ways to save Neal and Rumple, the former searching in vain for ways to get them back to the land without magic. 

Regina knew it was impossible, but she checked anyway and searched every book for some kind of answer. She would never give up on finding a way back to Henry, not if she lived a thousand years. She slammed the book she was looking through, sighing heavily and heading out of the library. Her stomach churned, something it had been doing occasionally for nearly a month. Regina had thought it was nerves, but something inside of her felt off. 

Making her way outside for some fresh air, Regina settled on a bench. It was late afternoon, and the sun was nearly halfway through its descent in the western sky. She let out a slow and calming breath. She needed to eat, that much she knew. Having ignored more meals than she'd eaten in the last several days, she felt half starved, but she didn't mind. No, she wanted to feel some sort of pain. She wanted to feel  _ something  _ besides the constant emptiness losing Henry had left inside of her.

Perhaps she deserved it, she thought. After all, she was warned that casting the dark curse in the first place would leave her with an emptiness in her heart. And she felt it deep into whatever semblance of a soul she had left after all she'd done; all the havoc she’d wreaked. Alas, she had gotten that hole anyway, even after all the years Henry had filled it. All the joy he'd brought into her life.

Her thoughts were interrupted at the clearing of a throat and her head jerked up to see who had the audacity to bother her. David, no surprise, and Regina sighed and motioned to the spot next to her.

“I assume you're going to invite yourself to sit either way, I may as well pretend to welcome you,” she told him, shaking her head. 

David gave a snort of laughter, sitting down beside her. “Your usual pleasant self today, I see.”

“What do you want, David?”

“Just checking on you. You haven't hardly been at meals lately, and I was just wanting to make sure you're okay.”

Regina rolled her eyes and looked away from him. “I’m fine, David.” 

He looked doubtful, but eventually nodded. “You say that a lot. You tell everyone you're  _ fine  _ but we both know it isn't true. We both know that because I'm not fine, either.”

“Then go find your princess and she'll make sure to take care of you. Frankly, I'm not in the mood.”

David let out a snort of frustration. “I'm just looking for someone to talk to for a minute. I need a friend for just a minute.”

Something about his tone had Regina studying his face and she nodded, finally saying, “What's wrong? Besides the obvious.”

“I don't know what to do anymore.”

“About what?”

He sighed, shaking his head slowly and running one hand over his face. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the ground. “Snow thinks she's pregnant.”

Regina was stunned. Not that she had expected them to be celibate, but she figured they'd have practiced caution. “I see. And she thinks this why?”

“She's late, and she's been feeling nauseous. Her appetite is weak and she says she just… has a  _ feeling _ . The same feeling she had with Emma.”

She felt her body temperature lower and as though all the blood drained from her face. Clearing her throat, Regina cautiously asked, “How late is she?”

“A couple weeks or so. She'd be a month or so along at most. Which means if she's right we'll be expecting a baby around the anniversary of losing our daughter. I just don't know that I can handle it.” David sat up straight again and turned his body to face her. “She wants me to be excited, but all I can think is that I don't want a replacement child. I want Emma back.” He finally registered her lack of color and frowned. “Are you alright? You look like you're going to be ill.”

Regina shook her head. “No, I -- I'm fine. The chill is getting to me is all.” She cleared her throat again. “So what do you want from me.”

Shrugging, he looked down at his feet. “Someone to talk to that doesn't expect me to be jumping over the moon with excitement. That probably makes me awful.”

“It doesn't.” She felt a small tug of desire to make him feel better. Regina didn't know why, but she knew if her new guess was valid, he wouldn't want comfort from her anyway. “I understand why you feel like that. I can't imagine… there's no way to replace a lost child.”

“No,” David agreed. “Especially not by simply having another.”

Nodding her agreement again, Regina stood. She needed to be alone. She paused, looking down at him and resting a hand on his shoulder. Bending slightly, she pressed a light kiss to his forehead. “You'll be okay. You'll figure it out; it's what you do.”

He looked up at her and gave a faint smile. “Thanks, Regina. I know you didn't have to listen to me or anything, but I appreciate it.”

Regina looked away. “Of course. It's what friends do.” She squeezed his shoulder. “Have a good rest of your day, David.”

Placing his hand over hers, he squeezed her fingers before letting go.

“You too.”

 

Regina went up to her bedchamber. Her stomach was clenched the entire way, and she knew, just  _ knew _ without a doubt that she had to be pregnant. Everything he'd described that was happening to Snow to give her reason to believe she was pregnant was happening to her, too. Covering her stomach with her hands, she tilted her head and sighed. Her breasts  _ had _ been sore, now that she thought of it, she'd just thought she was getting her period. And now that she put the pieces together, Regina realized she hadn't had a period, well, not since a couple of weeks before she and David had slept together.

She couldn't be. Well, she  _ could, _ but there was no way she could handle having another child. The thought of replacing Henry churned her stomach. He couldn't be replaced, so all a baby would do was remind her of her loss. And David… He'd be the father to two new babies, and how he could explain that off… Well that wouldn't happen. 

It would be unfair not to tell him. He had every right to know. He’d probably hate her for it, and he hadn't even sounded pleased to be having another child with his  _ wife _ , Regina couldn't imagine how bad he’d feel about having one with the woman he'd cheated on his wife with. It would be a constant reminder of his infidelity, to him and to Snow, if the younger brunette ever found out about it.

That was it. Regina would tell David, and tell him not to tell Snow. He could be part of the baby’s life without being known as its father. Snow would undoubtedly insert herself, which would drag David in. That should be enough. It would have to be, otherwise his wife would kill them both.

She sighed again as she sat down, her fingers running over the flat expanse of her belly. How could she not have known? How could she have been so unaware of her own body to not know she was growing a tiny human in there? As if her life wasn't hard enough as it was. How could she raise a baby in a world she hated, without its father, without her son… a new baby.

She should see it as a blessing; that's what babies should be to people who were capable of raising them. And besides the little technicalities, she was quite able. Had already done it. She could look at it as having something-- some _ one _ that couldn't be taken from her. Regina could love this baby, could give it a fairly happy life, on her own. But she didn't want to replace Henry in her heart, and she didn't want to view the baby as less than the son she'd  _ chosen _ . Because that's what Henry had been, a choice, a willing decision to be a mother. This one was just thrust upon her without the knowledge she could even have a child in her own womb. 

She wasn’t ready to deal with it. There was no way she could emotionally handle organizing her thoughts at that moment when she had Zelena to worry about lurking somewhere in the shadows, Snow being pregnant as well, still trying to find a way home (because that was something she’d never give up on), and with David being the father. 

David. The man who she’d spent years trying to destroy so that she could destroy Snow. The man who she had tried to deceive into sleeping with her when he hadn’t even known who he was. He’d turned her down then, when he’d had no real reason too, aside from the complicated things going on in his life, and yet he’d sought her out this time, when he’d had his wife around, when he knew who he was… who  _ she _ was. And she’d gotten pregnant. From one time. What terrible chances. Her poor child would be doomed from the start with her as its mother. 

Regina couldn’t think about it anymore. She climbed into her bed, not even bothering to change, and did her best to fall asleep. After what seemed like hours of trying, she finally managed to drift off, though her dreams brought visions of a baby… the baby she’d never wanted, but couldn’t stop herself from loving anyway.

 


	2. Chapter 2

A week passed with everyone going about their days as normal and living their lives as they had become accustomed to over their time in the Enchanted Forest. They were edging on the six-month mark since their return, and Regina still wouldn’t give up on finding a way back. Snow had been quietly telling her closest friends about her suspected pregnancy, and Regina felt nauseated every time the other woman spoke of it. Their inner circle knew, and she knew she needed to make it a point to not be around Granny or Red alone, because both women had nodded with confirmation when Snow mentioned that she believed it. They’d both said they could hear a rapid heartbeat. It was hers. Her baby’s, rather. She would be three or so months along, depending on if she calculated from the start of her last period or the actual date of conception. Snow was only around a month, and even with their heightened wolf senses, Regina didn’t believe they’d pick that up so soon.

So she avoided them as much as possible, except when she was around Snow, though that would have to change soon enough. It wouldn’t be much longer before Snow’s baby’s heartbeat would become more noticeable and Regina would have to do some explaining. There was no one else it could be. And who would they suspect was the father when it did come out? Nobody would believe it was David’s, so that was safe, but who would they assume she’d slept with. Because they would all make guesses, or discuss it when she wasn’t around. Not that it really mattered to her. She didn’t need to confirm nor deny their suspicions and guesses.

Regina was sitting in the library, a book on her lap and her head back resting on the edge of the chair. She was exhausted. She'd been trying to eat properly since she realized she was pregnant, and to get more sleep, but the latter seemed a senseless battle. The door to the library opened and Regina raised her head to see who was entering. She sighed softly.

“Hello, Snow.”

The other brunette smiled and took a seat next to her. “Hey! I just thought I'd come check on you.”

“Is your puppy not around to do it for you?” Regina shot back. When Snow's smile fell, she felt a tinge of guilt. “I'm sorry. You just usually don't come yourself since Christmas.”

“I know,” Snow answered, trying another smile, this one more faint. “I just thought it was time. We need to work together if we're going to get back home.”

Regina looked at her in surprise. The other woman had never expressed a desire to get back to Storybrooke. “You want to help?” she asked doubtfully.

“I do. Pregnancy is hard here, even with your magic on our side. And I miss Emma and Henry. I want to go back to that world.”

“Very well. I've looked through many of these books to no avail. Perhaps new eyes will see something I'm not seeing.” She didn't particularly want to be around Snow, but she couldn't tell the other woman why, and she was too tired to think of an excuse not to let her help.

Snow nodded, getting up and going to pick a book. She skimmed through the titles, though none seemed to stick out. Finally picking a random one, she returned to sit beside Regina, who was lazily flipping through the pages of the book still in her lap.

“So…” Snow started hesitantly.

“So?” Regina answered, arching an eyebrow.

The other woman blushed slightly. “Robin seems to like you. I know we had a little chat about him when we first met him, but I'm kind of surprised you've shown no interest.”

Rolling her eyes, Regina closed her book and looked at Snow. “Because there is no interest. I have no desire to find someone to be with, no desire to be with that thief, and none whatsoever to have this conversation.”

Snow let out a soft sigh and shook her head. “Henry would want you to be happy.”

“Do not talk to me about what Henry would want! You were his teacher for five seconds! And his grandmother for even less! Don't act like you know him better than I do, Snow,” Regina snapped, slamming her book onto the table beside her. She stood, storming out of the library and heading to her room.

 

She stayed in her room for almost an entire day, refusing to leave even for meals or fresh air, except once in the middle of the night, when she knew everyone would be asleep. Regina had snuck into the kitchen for bread, then returned to her room just as quickly as she’d left it. Late in the second evening she was trying to distract herself with a book for leisure reading, but it wasn’t really helping. There was a quiet knock at her door, so soft that she almost didn't get up to answer it, uncertain if there was really anyone there. But she did, and it was David, holding a platter of food. Food that looked so delicious to her hungry stomach that she didn’t want to refuse his entry.

Stepping aside, Regina allowed him in the room. She barely turned, closing the door behind him and leaning against it.

“Hey, uh… how are you doing?” David asked, setting down the tray of food and not really looking at her.

“I’d be doing better if your wife would mind her own business,” she snapped.

David sighed, but he nodded his understanding. Snow had always had a proclivity for inserting herself where she thought she was necessary, regardless of how anyone else felt about the matter. “Yeah. Sorry about that.” He shook his head, finally looking at her. “I'll talk to her. She knows she shouldn't throw Henry in your face.”

Regina felt another pang of pain at her son’s name. She wanted it to go away; she was tired of being sad all the time. She turned to the door, and for half a second she considered opening it, contemplated asking him to leave. But that thought withered away and she lifted the locking plank instead and sealed them off from the rest of the castle’s inhabitants. Turning to face him once more, insistent of feeling something besides mental anguish and heartache, Regina sauntered toward him.

David knew what she was doing—knew it to the very soul of his being. He should walk around her, should leave and not look back, at least not until that look was gone from her eyes and the way her hips were swaying was no longer burning into his own retinas.

She took his face into her hands, pulling him down and kissing him hard, pressing her body against his. It took him a moment, but his arms wrapped around her back and held her there against him. Opening his mouth to her, David met her tongue with his own, kissing her hungrily.

And God he shouldn't be doing this. He really shouldn't. His wife was pregnant. David broke the kiss, pulling back and looking at Regina. She looked equal parts pissed and hurt. He couldn't handle that; she'd been too hurt by too many people, for far too long. He could give her this.

David kissed her this time, pulling her close once more and tangling one hand into her dark hair. She was… god, incredible at kissing, and he let his body move with hers to the bed, kept kissing her hungrily, but he was trying to shut off his mind.

He lifted her, laying her down and tugging her leather pants and underwear down, practically clawing them off. David kissed up one leg, then began undoing her velvet jacket and corset. He had to stop for a moment as Regina was pulled his shirt up and off him. The corset and her jacket were next to go, and David pressed his bare chest to hers as their mouths met once more. After only a moment of him on top of her, Regina flipped them and straddled where he was hard with lust for her, his pants straining against him. Grinding her hips down against him, she pressed her palms against the bed on either side of his head and leaned down to kiss him again.

It was greedy and hungry and full of want. All tongue and teeth, her mouth leading the kiss. David gripped her hips, fingertips digging into her ass as his thumbs pressed into the crease where her legs bent. It wasn't long before she was moving down his body to pull off the rest of his clothes; her body was too full of want, her core aching to be filled just as her soul wanted that temporary shift in focus.

Then he was naked, and Regina was straddling his hips once more, her hand taking him and angling him up as she slid down onto his dick. She let out a soft moan of pleasure as he filled her. And God, did he ever fill her. He was good without even trying. But he tried regardless.

She moved her hips on him, rolling slowly at first, letting her body grow accustomed to him. It only took a minute and she was more than ready, reaching up and gripping the headboard. Regina raised her hips, dropping them on him over, and over.

David moved one hand from her hip to her breast, cupping and kneading it lightly in his palm. She was so hot, so incredibly gorgeous, naked on top of him. Leaning up, he pressed his lips to her other breast, kissing the smooth skin as he worked his way to her nipple. He brushed his lips over the pert flesh, then opened his mouth and took her nipple between his teeth, tugging it gently between them. Regina let out a ragged moan as she continued moving on him, her chin dropping and her gaze falling to watch him.

David moved the hand still on her hip around to her ass, gripping the rounded flesh and squeezing it, pulling her on him. He sucked her nipple then, flicking his tongue over it as he did so and dragging his teeth against the skin around it. Switching breasts, so he could pay proper attention to the other nipple, David moved his hand down to where they were joined, his thumb finding her clit with ease.

Regina shifted off him, earning a surprised groan from David at the loss of her body on his. He watched her curiously, brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

She shook her head, moving closer to the headboard, still gripping it and on her knees. “Nothing, fuck me like this.”

David nodded slowly, but moved behind her. He gripped one hip, taking his dick in the other hand and shifting to lead himself into her. Once inside of her, he wrapped one arm around her waist, his other pressing along the outside of hers, hand gripping the headboard beside hers.

He thrust and thrust, his head dropping and his lips pressing hot kisses along the length of her shoulder. How she could elicit this response from him amazed him, and she was just as sexy from behind as she was facing him. The line of her spine, every smooth muscle of her back and the way she looked bouncing back against him with every thrust forward he gave.

“Harder,” she growled, needing more, needing that release. David obeyed, pressing his chest to her back and lowering the hand around her middle to find her clit. He moved his hips in harder, shallower motions, his fingers circling her clit quickly, but precisely. He needed her to come. He was getting too close in this new position.

Lucky for him, Regina dropped her head back against his shoulder and moaned again. “Don’t stop,” she whispered breathlessly. He didn’t. Had no intention to. Instead, David worked harder to get her there, sighing in relief when he felt her body tighten around him and heard the rough gasp from her through.

Her hands tightened on the headboard, and David gave a couple thrusts more to bring her down, before pulling out of her. He dropped onto his stomach on the bed, his erection pressed between him and the mattress. He felt terrible. The sex was amazing… Regina was amazing, but it was _dirty_. He’d cheated on his wife, again, but this time she was pregnant and that made it so much worse of him.

Regina lowered herself to the bed, laying down on her side and looking at him. “You didn’t finish.”

David hadn’t known if she would notice, but that, too, made him feel bad. He shook his head. “No, I didn’t.” He sighed, eyes switching between hers for a moment. “I just feel guilty.”

“Well you didn’t have to have pity sex with me.”

“That’s not what it was. For a second I didn’t want to stop because I didn’t want to hurt you, but it wasn’t pity sex. You know what you look like—what you do to men. Hell, even to some women.”

Regina nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Okay.”

“But this can’t happen again.”

David sighed, nodding. It couldn’t. He refused to be that guy, the one who cheats all the time on his pregnant wife and brings a baby into the world in a broken home. That wasn’t him, it wasn’t how he was raised.

Regina almost told him. Would he feel as guilty for having sex with her if he knew she was carrying his child just like Snow was? But that wasn’t right. It wasn’t okay for her to blurt out the news when he was already feeling guilty enough. She’d have to wait longer. Besides, she wasn’t ready yet anyway.

Rolling onto her back, Regina pulled the covers up around her body, covering it from him. “I suppose you ought to go.”

David nodded, sitting up and looking down at her. “Yeah. I should.” He got off the bed, pulling his clothes on quickly and looking at the tray of food still on one of the small tables. “Eat, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she murmured, not looking his way until he was pulling the door shut behind him. It had helped. But only for those moments.


	3. Chapter 3

Days passed, and Regina grew more uncomfortable in her own skin every time she saw David dote on Snow. He was dutifully playing his part to his wife, his _pregnant wife_. The thoughts filled her mind even when she wasn't with them. Jealousy and rage burned in the blood running through her veins at the thought that Snow had the dutiful husband, the one who cared about her and her pregnancy. About their baby.

And she was alone. All alone. Carrying _his_ child, one made out of lust and pain and the need to forget, instead of out of love and care, out of familiarity. Regina knew she had no place to be jealous or angry. She knew it all too well; it was her own fault, after all. She'd chosen to sleep with him. She'd let him kiss her and touch her, had reveled in the way it felt to be wanted. David held his own blame, which she also knew, but she couldn't blame anyone else for her situation aside from herself.

She'd known better.

But she'd done it, and now she was paying the price. One that meant a baby to raise alone in a world she hated. In a realm where she was still known as the Evil Queen. Either way she'd be damned if she let anyone shame her for her pregnancy. And it wouldn't be long before everyone knew. She knew that, too. Ruby and Granny would be able to tell, and the former certainly wasn't known for her discretion.

Regina knew she needed to tell David soon. She was somewhere around four months pregnant, going by her last period, and her stomach was starting to swell. He had a right to hear it from her. Sighing, she pushed away her dinner plate and stood to leave the dining hall. Belle had sat beside her, a pattern that had happened naturally with all the time they'd spent together in the library. But the other woman was chatting away with Roland, Robin, and Neal, so Regina assumed her absence would go unnoticed regardless. She left the dining hall, heading to her room for the night. The exhaustion wasn't as bad as it had been in the end of her first trimester, but she no longer had the stamina to stay awake in the library late into the night that she'd once had.

When she got to her room, Regina changed into her nightclothes and settled into a chaise to read a bit before retiring to bed. Her mind was restless though, and she couldn't focus. Deciding to take a walk, she pulled on a heavy, floor length coat, and headed out to walk the dark, and hopefully abandoned, courtyard.

Once she was outside, she realized she didn't have much energy for a true walk. She sat down on a bench, pulling the coat tighter around her to avoid the cool night air. She was exhausted, emotionally and mentally, mostly. And she was truly alone finally, without someone beside her in the library, or crowds at meals, or the possibility of someone coming to her room to talk to her. Regina slumped her shoulders forward, resting her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. And she cried.

She cried for Henry, but hoped his life with Emma was happy. She cried for her baby, who would never know life outside of this wretched land. But mostly she cried for herself. Regina didn't ever allow herself to anymore; she had too much going on with Zelena on the loose and a baby coming in less than half a year. But she did, she finally let herself fall victim to her emotions and weep.

But it passed, and she got up after a few minutes and headed back inside, back to her room. And the feeling of being alone that she had reveled in for the moment outside now felt too much like loneliness, a feeling one would think she'd grown accustomed to, but it ached. Her heart and soul ached so badly that she wished she could go to sleep and never wake up. But the option of using a sleeping curse was long past being a valid option; she would not do anything that could possibly harm her unborn child. Especially not something so selfish. So she would just push through it. She’d become an expert at that anyway.

Regina shoved off her coat, climbing into bed and under the covers. She stared at the ceiling, silently begging for dawn to come, for morning to arrive, and with it the valid excuse to be awake.

 

A couple more days passed of sleepless nights and Regina just couldn’t take it anymore. She was too tired, far more exhausted than a pregnant woman should allow herself to be. Bucking up out of worry that her lack of sleep would hurt the baby, she went to Granny. They didn’t really have a midwife here, or any real healers. But Regina knew that Granny had spent many years caring for pregnant women when she was young, before she’d been attacked by a werewolf. She wouldn’t tell her she was pregnant, though the woman would probably know. She would just ask for ideas to help her sleep, some herbal concoction.

Heading into the kitchen, she looked around to make sure no one else was there. It was between meals, and Granny was usually the only one around then anyway, but Regina wanted to make sure. Once certain the room was clear, she turned to Granny, who was giving her an inquisitive look.

“Something I can do for you, Regina?”

“I’m… uh, having trouble sleeping. I was wondering if you had any suggestions,” she asked, sighing.

“Have you tried a sleeping curse?”

Regina arched an eyebrow, rolling her eyes to follow. “Well I considered it anyway.”

“Worried about that baby you’re carrying?” Granny asked casually. Of course she already knew; it was only a matter of time anyway.

Opening her mouth to deny it, she was cut off by the older woman.

“No use in trying, girl, I know you’re pregnant. I’m old, not stupid.”

Regina pursed her lips and nodded. “I don’t want to ingest anything that could harm it. While it wasn’t planned for, I don’t want… I…”

“I get it.” Granny walked away, over to the cupboard where the herbs and seasonings were kept. She pulled out two jars, holding them out for Regina. She then set to boiling water. “I’ll make you a cup right now, but mostly you’ll want to drink it about half an hour before you intend to sleep.”

“What is it?”

“Chamomile tea leaves, and some hawthorn leaves. It should soothe you enough to help you sleep, but if you find that it isn’t working as much as you’d like, get yourself some lavender oil and use that when you bathe, and bathe at night. It’ll help calm you as well. Or you can rub it on your temples, the spot right behind your ears, and the inside of your wrist.”

Regina nodded, quietly thanking her as she looked at the jars. “Can you… can we keep this between us?”

The other woman looked at her for a long moment, then turned her gaze back to the water as it started boiling. She nodded and filled two teacups with the water, adding a few leaves to settle. “It’s not my business to share.”

“Thank you, for all of it.”

“How far along are you, do you think?”

Chewing her lip for a moment, she decided it wouldn’t hurt anything to tell her. “I suppose about four months or so.”

Granny nodded. “Well then, just keep yourself busy during the day so you’re tired at night. Stop reading those books in search of answers at least an hour before you plan to head to bed. No need to have that stuff filling your mind when you’re trying to sleep. And go to bed later than usual, that way you’ll be tired when you get there.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Now go on, I need to start preparing for lunch.”

Regina knew the conversation was over then, so she nodded, gathering the jars in one hand and her tea in the other. Leaving the kitchen, she headed to her room to drop off her newly acquired items. Once those were on her nightstand, she headed back down to the library, sipping her tea as she went. She certainly didn’t prefer to sleep in the middle of the day, but she was so exhausted that if the tea made her drowsy, she wouldn’t mind a nap just one day.

Setting herself up with another book, Regina flipped through the pages as she sipped her tea. She had had absolutely no luck still, not on trying to learn how to make a portal from nothing, or on how to reactivate an old portal. There was nothing.

… Well, there was one thing. But she wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t cast another curse, not that she had the ability to anyway. The thing she loved the most was in another realm, far, far away from her. Even if he weren’t, she’d never kill him for anything. If he weren’t, she wouldn’t be having this issue as it was.

Regina sighed after nearly an hour. She dropped the book to the table, then sipped the last of her now-cold tea. She had no idea what to do, or if she would ever even find an answer to her problem. Would she really have to go the rest of her life without seeing her child again? It wasn’t fair. She knew it was karma, that she was paying the price for her sins, for all the wrongdoing she’d committed up until she cast the first curse.

And it was hell. Nothing could be worse. She leaned back in her seat, staring at her hands and wondering what she was going to do. If Rumple were here, he’d have figured it out by now. Or set a plan in order to be able to figure it out sometime. He’d set up her casting the curse decades before she was even born. What she wouldn’t do for the ability to see the future. Even just a little bit… even just a peek.

Regina sighed, the action turning into a yawn. Maybe she could sleep some now. Getting up, Regina took her mug to her room; she could return it to the kitchen later. She climbed into her bed and slipped under the covers. Perhaps Granny was a genius after all; she hadn't felt this tired in ages. As soon as her head settled against the pillow, she was asleep. She slept the whole night.

 

Regina headed to the library first thing the next morning, for once feeling refreshed despite the odd dreams that had filled her head in her sleep. Her mother was in most of them, dreams of her childhood and wanting affection, wanting friends. When she got there, Belle was already flipping through a book at the table Regina usually used. The other woman lifted her head and smiled, greeting her with _hello_.

Regina responded in kind, sitting and taking a book from the stack she'd left on the table the day before. As she opened it, Belle cleared her throat.

“Can I ask you something, Regina?” she said.

Regina looked up at her and nodded. “I suppose.”

“How far along are you?”

Her eyebrows raised, and she pursed her lips. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Sure you do. You can hide it from everybody else, but I spend the most time near you, and I know what pregnancy looks like.”

Regina didn’t argue, though she wanted to. Belle was right. She was smarter than most of the other people taking up residence in the castle, and there was no point in lying to someone who already knew when the truth would get out eventually. “How did you know?”

“Well for a while I didn’t, I just thought you were sick or wearing yourself down, maybe having bad anxiety. But the longer you seemed nauseated by eating, and by not eating, the more I began to wonder. You’re tired often, you sit more than you used to. And sometimes when you’re in here and you think I’m not looking, you rest your hand on your stomach and look thoughtful.”

Licking her lips, Regina shook her head. “Four months, I think.”

“You think?”

“Yes, bookworm. I don’t exactly know a ton about pregnancy, and I’m not sure if I should count from my last cycle or the night that it happened or what,” she snapped.

Belle nodded. “Well you should count from your cycle, but the fact that you know when it happened helps, just because it will help you keep in mind a more realistic due date, since we don’t have the technology here that exists in Storybrooke.”

Regina sighed. She shouldn’t be taking her frustration out on Belle. The other woman had done nothing to her, not really, except for knowing her secret.

“Does the father know?”

“No. No, he does not.”

“I see. Well, I hope the best for you, you know. Just because we have a poor history doesn’t mean I would want you and your child to suffer.”

Regina gave her a faint smile, sitting further back in her chair. Maybe this was what it was like to have a friend.

She needed to tell David. Belle knew, Granny knew, and she was sure that if Ruby didn’t know, it wouldn’t be far off. Granny and Belle might be willing to keep her secret, but Ruby would mention it to Snow, of that she was certain, so telling David needed to come soon. Far sooner than she was ready for.


	4. Chapter 4

Regina held her secret close to her chest for another day and a half, but she knew she was pushing it. She decided she would get David alone when the men went on their perimeter check. The nerves in her body were out of control and she couldn’t keep any food down for the entire day. There was no reason she should feel so nervous; they had had sex, she had gotten pregnant, and he needed to know. She had no need for him to be an acting father in the child’s life, it would be fine for him to play the same role in this child’s life as he had played in Henry’s, without the actual relation. It wouldn’t be weird, not if she and Snow remained friends, and both of his children would grow up together, likely as friends, so he would see his child plenty enough between that and around the castle, since they all lived together anyway.

Regina would make it clear to him that no one was to know he was the father, and that he was off the hook. She didn’t need anyone’s help, and certainly not his simply because they’d fucked a couple of times. But even as she settled in certainty on that, her mind ran over the possibilities of how the conversation could go. He may hate her, a possibility that should not bother her, but did. He might accuse her of being pregnant with someone else’s child, and why shouldn’t he? She had a history of enjoying men, a fact well known to the prince she’d twice attempted to seduce before he’d eventually come to her willingly and of his own accord. And yet, that thought bothered her almost as much as him hating her did. Regina had found a friend in David, one she had taken to reluctantly, not truly acknowledging it until the reality that she could lose that friendship settled in upon her. The thought made her ache deep to the very core of her being. Whatever the reaction she was to receive, Regina knew that she could waste no more time.

When the sun grew close to setting, she pulled on a cloak and headed outside to wait for him. Settling onto the bench that had become the place they had all of their heavier talks, she waited. Only a few minutes passed before the men were making their way out of the castle, David walking alongside Little John and talking. He looked over at her, so she gave him a tilt of her head to signal that she needed a moment.

He took the hint, excusing himself from the men and telling John to go on, he’d catch up. David moved to sit down beside her, giving her an easy smile. It made her feel half bad, because she knew he wouldn’t be smiling once she told him. Regina wanted to wait until the men were far enough that their conversation would not be overheard by any of them. And she hesitated still, even when they were entirely out of sight.

“Regina, is everything all right?” David asked softly, dipping his head to look at her.

She let out a sharp laugh that sounded half like a scoff and far too bitter. “Nothing is.”

He nodded, reaching his arm across his body and touching her forearm. “What’s wrong?”

Regina looked at him, then looked away and shook her head. “I have to tell you something, and you’re… I don’t know how you’re going to react, but it isn’t going to be happily.”

“Okay. What happened?” he pressed, trying to get it out of her. When a moment passed and she still said nothing, David rubbed her arm. “You can trust me.”

She swallowed thickly, nodding at his words and deciding she just needed to spit it out already. “I’m pregnant.”

David’s hand remained on her arm in his surprise, not quite able to move or think or even really breathe. The easy going and laid back expression on his face slowly shifted into fear and he finally shook his head. “I… Uh, from when?”

Regina had half expected him to ask if it was his, and she was secretly grateful he didn't. “Christmas.”

“So you're… what, three and a half months along?”

She nodded slowly. “Between that and four depending on what you go by.”

“How long have you known?”

“I put the pieces together when you told me Snow thought she was. The symptoms were all there, and so I figured it out and…” She shrugged, letting her words trail off. “I needed time to figure things out before I told you, but Granny and Belle know, so I figured it would only be a matter of time before it became a subject of gossip.”

David nodded, looking forward into the darkness. “Well I appreciate hearing it from you instead of anyone else,” he said quietly, making her wonder what he wasn't saying.

“I thought about it. There's no reason anyone needs to know it's yours. I mean, we all live here, you'll see it all the time. But Snow shouldn't know, especially not right now.”

“You're asking me to pretend I'm not the father?” He looked at her with an anger she hadn't expected. No, she'd expected relief. Frustration, maybe, but not anger.

“Well what would you like to do otherwise? Tell your wife? Let everyone in the castle believe that the beloved princess’ husband was seduced by the evil queen, and she got pregnant? Because that's how this will go.”

“I have a right to father my baby!”

“It's _my_ baby! It is growing in _my_ body!”

David shook his head.

“And when he or she is born? Is it just your baby then? I understand you're carrying this child, but he or she is half me, too. I can't sit on the sidelines and watch my child being raised--”

“By who?” she cut off. “By the evil queen?”

“That's not what I was going to say! You're trying to make me the bad guy here and that's not fair. I was simply going to say I would not sit by and watch my child be raised by only its mother.” He sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and dropping his head into his hands.

“And here I thought you'd be relieved. You don't even want the child you're having with your wife.”

David turned his head and looked at her, his eyes watering. “I never said that. I said that I wasn't excited about it being so soon. I don't want a replacement for Emma. That's all I meant. Of course I want my child. My… children. Regina, I want to be an active father. For both of my coming children, not just the one with Snow.”

It was her turn to sigh, and she looked away. “What are you going to do then? Tell her you fucked me on Christmas Day because she wasn't being sensitive to your upset and we both needed comfort? And then what?”

“I don't know. But I do know I don't want this child growing up thinking of me as its like, step-brother-in-law or something.”

Regina scoffed, a small laugh at the absurdity of both the statement and situation falling from her lips. “Can you at least wait to tell her until we figure out how to do it? Please?”

“Yeah, all right.”

“Thank you.”

David sat up straight again, nodding slowly. “Okay. And thank you again for telling me.”

Silence settled over them for several long moments, but Regina wasn't ready to get up. David didn't seem to be either, and she wondered if he was just waiting until the men got back so he wouldn't have to explain his early return.

Regina finally broke the quiet, bothered by it despite the fact that David was the only person aside from Belle that she felt comfortable alone with anymore. “She's going to hate me again. And I can't blame her.”

He sighed and nodded, looking over at her. “I'll explain that I pushed it.”

“Thank you, but it still doesn't excuse that I knew what I was doing.” She rolled her lips together. “Do you think she'll forgive you? That she'll stay with you?”

“I don't know. Probably, but I'm sure she'll be rightfully upset for a long time to come.”

Regina looked at him, covering his hand with her own for a second and squeezing his fingers. “For the record, I think she’ll forgive you. She forgave me for so much, and she doesn’t love me the way she loves you. I know it’s bad… what we did, but Snow loves you more than anything in the world. That’s not the kind of love you give up.”

David let his gaze move over her face. He doubted she meant to, but she sounded so lonely, so… almost envious of the fact that he and Snow had that love. “You’ll have it someday, you know. I honestly believe you will. You’re too great not to.”

Scoffing lightly, Regina shook her head. “I lost my chance at love a long time ago. I have lost everyone I love. There’s no sense in trying again.”

“No way,” David argued, bumping his arm lightly against hers. “I’m serious, you’re going to fall in love someday, Regina. You’re going to find someone who can give you back as much attitude as you give. And you know, if you don’t, so what? You’re amazing. You don’t need anyone else to be that.” He smiled at her, shrugging.

“Sometimes I wonder if I accidentally gave you and your wife a lobotomy.” Regina arched an eyebrow at him. “You seem to have literally forgotten everything I’ve done to you.”

He laughed softly, shaking his head. “No, it was a bit much to ever forget. Not too much to forgive, though. We’re family, Regina. And now… well, now we’ll have another person connecting us.”

Regina nodded, turning her head when she heard male voices nearing them. They still weren’t visible, but she knew they were coming soon. She stood up, resting one hand on his shoulder and bending to kiss his forehead. “Thank you, David. I’ll see you soon.”

“Goodnight, Regina,” he answered softly.

She muttered the greeting in kind as she walked away from him, back to the castle, and back to her own lonely room. Regina knew she’d lost her chance at romantic love. But she would always love Henry, and now she would have this baby to love. That would be enough, even if she no longer had Henry with her, her love for him would help her carry on.

But she had no idea of a way for them to tell Snow about the baby without everything Regina had done to redeem herself being overlooked because of what she'd done with David. She knew she'd be the villain again, even if in that moment with David all she had wanted was to feel something besides pain.

And as she always had, she tried to fix the pain in the wrong way.


	5. Chapter 5

The cold weather had finally stopped, but it had given into hot days, bright sun, and insane humidity. Regina didn’t remember the weather being like this, didn’t remember the sun ever feeling so overwhelming or the heat exhausting her so much. Though, she had never been pregnant before, either, so maybe that was a contributing factor with the heat bringing her excessive grumpiness. And she was horny. All the time. She didn’t understand how couples ever managed to get out of bed if every woman felt this way pregnant, because all she wanted was to have someone between her thighs. It wasn’t the same taking care of herself, not with her rounding belly that made the reach just a little too difficult, and made it impossible for her to get comfortable.

She woke up in the middle of the day after a short nap, something she’d grown quite used to with the exhaustion of pregnancy, especially with the heat. She was almost desperate, and Regina lay there for nearly half an hour trying to convince herself not to go find David. Eventually, she lost that argument with herself and set off in search of him. It didn’t take her long, only a few minutes and a short walk. He’d been talking with some of the Merry Men, chatting about boundaries and booby traps. She’d waited, clearing her throat when she thought it was an appropriate enough time, and then pulling him away with the excuse of needing assistance. Checking the hallways as they walked back toward her room, Regina briskly pulled him into her chambers and shut the door behind them. She dropped the heavy locking latch and turned as he started to speak. He’d barely had his question of curiosity out before she was crashing her lips to his and pulling him down to her.

David returned the kiss for a long moment, but slowly brought his hands up and gripped her upper arms, pushing her back and stepping away. “What the hell, Regina?” 

She couldn’t blame him for his tone. They hadn’t done this since the time he'd refused to come out of guilt, so his confusion wasn’t misplaced, but it was frustrating nevertheless. Regina looked up at him with narrow eyes. “I need sex.”

“Regina, no.” David sighed. “Look, I haven’t even told Snow, and I feel bad for hurting her and she doesn’t even know I hurt her yet. And we need things to not be… weird when our kid gets here.”

“Okay, look, David. You can stand here and try to be noble, telling me that we can’t have sex because you’re married, even though that didn’t stop you before, and because we’re going to have a baby and you don’t want co-parenting to be awkward, especially around Snow and whatever.  _ Or _ you can shut up and fuck me senseless, until my hormones are under control, and we can repeat as necessary, because if you’ve forgotten, this is half your fault. And we will  _ still _ be able to co-parent without any awkwardness, because we’re mature adults. It’s your choice.”

David tilted his head, scrubbing a hand over his face in momentary frustration. She was right; they could co-parent their baby, even if there was this weird sexual relationship between them. But he still felt bad about Snow. There was really no excuse for him to still sleep with Regina, no reason for him to delay telling Snow about his baby with her, and every reason  _ not  _ to sleep with the unbelievably difficult woman standing before him.

Regina arched an eyebrow, tilting her chin up in a challenge. She moved around him at his continued silence, reaching back with one hand as she walked toward her bed and tugging down on the lace that tied up the back of her dress. It unraveled, and Regina pulled it off, climbing onto the bed.

“Fine. Go,” she said firmly. “And don't come here again. If this is done, it's done. If you don't want to have sex,  _ fine _ , but you're choosing that we will never again have sex if you leave this room.”

David turned to fully face her, shaking his head. “What the hell am I supposed to do here? I'm married! I've got two kids on the way with two different women, and I should only feel that loyalty towards my  _ wife _ , but you're carrying my baby and I don't know what the hell to do now!” 

Regina sighed, pursing her lips and standing once more. She walked up to him, reaching for his hand and squeezing it gently. “I didn't…” She shook her head, deciding to take another route. “Go back to Snow. I'll manage.”

David sighed, moving to her bed and sitting down. “I don't know what I want to do.”

Regina walked back to the bed to sit down beside him and frowned. “Do you want to talk? I know we haven't really talked since… well, since I told you.” 

Nodding, he blew out his lips with a huff of breath and looked at the floor. “I don't know. You're the only person who knows I'm not terribly excited with the timing of it all. Snow’s at something like, three and a half months or so now, and she's planning a nursery and having Granny make a blanket and Blue is helping with procuring rare items to decorate the room. She used my mother’s necklace to determine we’re having a boy, which I don't know if that works but it was right for Emma.”

“Well there  _ is  _ a fifty-fifty chance,” Regina cut in, rolling her eyes.

“I know. I just don't know what to do. I don't want to raise children here. I don't want my children to have to be scared of the possibility of a psychotic witch killing them or their parents.”

She nodded, bringing her hand to rest on his leg. “Funny how history repeats itself.”

David looked over at her and shook his head. “It's different.”

“It isn't really. Granted, she's after me, not you guys, but I have a feeling once she finds out I'm pregnant, she's going to destroy me or this baby, and I'm terrified. I know we have to get back, I know we have to either kill her or get away, but I don't know what to do.”

“Yeah. I'm sorry. I know she's your only family, and I'm sorry this is what it's going to come to.” 

Regina shrugged one shoulder and licked her lips. “She made her choice. I can't protect or defend my sister if she wants to kill my family-- my baby, I mean.”

David let his gaze fall to her lips as she spoke, and when she was done, he leaned into her and kissed her softly. He hadn't meant for it to be tender, had intended for it to be distracting, and it was, but it was also soft and sweet. Bringing one hand up, David held her face and kissed her a little harder, opening his lips and sliding his tongue out to meet hers.

Closing her eyes, Regina leaned into him and brought her hands up to tug his shirt open. He was wearing a simple cream shirt with long sleeves, a tie at his neck that wasn't done up, and a few buttons down the front. He had his usual style pants on, easy enough to remove, and Regina was glad there wouldn't be much to fuss with. Once all the buttons were undone, she pushed it open and down his arms, bringing her fingers to his chest and running them over his muscles. He was definitely sexy, and the promise of having her needs sated had her body on fire, beyond ready for him.

David pushed up the slip she was wearing, fingers passing over her cotton underwear as he slid the silky fabric up her body. Breaking the kiss, he licked his lips as he pulled it over her head and took in the sight of her body. It was different, but the fact that that was because she was growing his child only served to turn him on more for her. 

He shifted, picking her up and moving her to the center of the bed. David then shoved off his pants and underwear, kicking them off with his boots as he climbed to hover over her. Tugging her underwear off, he grabbed a pillow and nudged her hips. Regina lifted them from the bed, letting him slide the pillow beneath her, and then settling down against it once it was there. He leaned down over her, kissing her hungrily and curving his back out so he didn't press against her. 

Regina brought her hands up, gripping his sides as they kissed. She wanted him, even more now that he was so close to her. She held the kiss, tongues working in tandem as her hips rolled up in search of friction. She needed more, she needed all of him. Sliding one hand between their bodies, Regina wrapped her fingers around his cock. She stroked him slowly, working to build him up, even though he was already solid in her hand. 

“Fuck, Regina,” he groaned, pushing up on his knees and gripping her ankles. He led them up to his shoulders, one on either side of his head. David pulled back from her hand, taking his erection into his own hand and leading himself to her entrance. He waited a moment, then pushed into her slowly.

Regina let out a soft moan as he filled her, rocking her hips up to meet his, anchoring her heels against his shoulders. It was exactly what her body had needed, and she moved her hands up his arms as far as she could reach. She’d expected him to be overly cautious, but then again, she reminded herself that he probably had sex with Snow on a regular basis, so he was likely unconcerned about her pregnant state. Not that she’d complain, because this was amazing.

David moved his arm across her thighs, holding her legs tight to him as he fucked into her. It had been too long for him, and he was all too willing to comply once given that last push. He thrust into her, pace fast and needy, exactly what would satisfy both of them. David watched her breasts bounce as her body moved with each thrust he gave. They were bigger, not too much so, but noticeable enough, at least for anyone who’d ever seen her naked, without the bells and whistles that she used to give such ample cleavage when she was dressed. Her body was glorious though, every curve and valley of her form, and David took all of it in as he fucked into her.

Regina closed her eyes, unable to take the intensity of his gaze. She wasn’t used to be looked at with anything other than contempt and hatred, or lust when it came to sex, but never such desire or… whatever it was that he was looking at her with. When she felt that familiar tension building low in her belly, Regina opened her eyes for only a moment, reaching to take his hand. She pulled it between her legs, shifting them open just a little to give him more room. He let his thumb press to her clit, circling it slowly, then moving up and down, side to side, teasingly, not moving in a steady enough pattern to make her come, but enough to bring her body closer and closer, sitting right on the edge and almost desperate enough to beg.

She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction, though, so when she needed something more rhythmic, Regina reached down and covered his hand with her own, leading his thumb in steady and fast circles on her clit, working her up, up, up, and-- “ _ Oh! Yes! _ ” she cried, her head jerking up from the pillow, and her shoulders moving up from the bed, body curling in on itself as she came and she followed her words with a soft sigh. 

David groaned as he watched her, waiting until her body settled slowly back against the bed and moving his hands to the back of her thighs. He gripped her that way, holding her legs out to either side, parting them wide, so he could pound faster into her. He grew closer with every thrust, her orgasm having pushed him that much closer, and as her body gave little spasms in the aftershock of her orgasm, he grew nearer to that release. David let his eyes roam her body again, letting go of one leg and moving his hand up to cup her breast, thumb brushing over her stiff nipple. She was so hot, tight, and incredible, David didn’t want to stop, as much as he wanted his orgasm. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, for only moments later, he was groaning and spilling his seed deep inside of her, her name falling from his lips as he dropped his weight to both hands, one on either side of her head, hips still working into her as he came down. 

When he was done, his body calming from his release, David dropped down to the bed beside her. He looked at her for a long moment, waiting for her to look at him, too. As though she could read his mind, she turned her head, letting her eyes meet his, as she licked her lips.

“So…” he started softly.

“So, thanks.” Regina shrugged, wondering what more they were supposed to say.

“You want to do this often?” David was still unsure if that was what she had meant, or if it would just be whenever she was feeling horny, or what. 

“I mean, whenever the need arises would be nice, but I’m not going to pretend that would actually be doable. Perhaps whenever you have time, you let me know, and I’ll see if it works for me.” Regina turned onto her side, pushing up on her elbow.

Nodding, David considered for a long moment. “I suppose that’s fair. 

“Okay.” 

“Can I asked you a question about the baby?” he asked softly.

Regina nodded. “Sure.”

“Does it move?”

“Yeah. A lot.”

David looked at her belly, eyeing cautiously and lifting a hand from the bed. “Can I?”

She nodded again, taking his hand and leading it to cover where she could feel the baby. Shifting to her back to allow easier access, Regina pressed his fingertips over the hardest spot of her belly and looked at him, watching for his reaction. He pressed gently against her, smiling at feeling his child for the first time. 

David sprawled his fingers out against her skin, moving his palm over the hard point and just resting his hand there for several minutes. It felt sweet, intimate, and he moved his gaze up to hers for a long moment. Blue eyes locked on brown and he noticed that all her usual roughness, the hardened exterior she usually wore, was completely gone. He knew right then that this baby would be well loved, no matter how it was made. At that moment, he felt a kick, breaking their eye contact and looking back to where his hand was against her. David grinned brightly, coasting his hand a little lower on the curve of her belly, where he’d felt the movement against his fingertips before. 

“You’ve done this before, I know, but this is an incredible, and odd, feeling for me,” she confessed quietly.

He nodded and smiled at her. “It’s pretty cool. And it’s been a long time since I’ve felt a baby kick.”

“It’s so different. Henry came to me already perfect, healthy, beautiful… I helped make this baby, who knows how it’ll turn out. What if it’s evil, like me?”

David shook his head, moving his hand up to her chin and turning her face to look at him. He leaned up, giving her a tender kiss. “The baby isn’t going to be evil. And you’re not evil, Regina. You did a lot of shitty things, things that were evil, but  _ you _ are not evil. And it isn’t genetic, even if magic is. You know better than that.”

Regina pursed her lips, looking away from him and bringing her own hand to her belly. Stroking her fingers over it, she eventually gave a slow nod. “Perhaps.” She let out a soft sigh, too overwhelmed by his gentleness and forgiveness, and then looked at him with half-lidded eyes. “I’m tired. I think I’m going to sleep a bit.”

Taking the hint, David got up and pulled her quilt up and over her body. He bent to press a kiss to her forehead. “Sleep well, Regina.” She nodded, shifting to her side so her back was facing him as he dressed. Regardless of the fact that he was the father of her child, she could not get attached to him, and being the idiot that he was, he was too kind to her for her to stop herself.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and let me know what you think. This was a hard chapter to write, and I imagine after reading, most of you will understand why. Regardless, let me know what you think, please, it motivates me.

Regina had stepped things up with David, beckoning him three times in the week since they’d agreed they would have sex when the need came up. As lovely as it was having her carnal desires met, the heat of late May was killing her with the growth of her stomach. She had to hand it to David, though; he never got awkward about her stomach protruding, and never once had hesitated in the times she’d seduced him. Perhaps that was because he’d already slept with a pregnant woman before and wasn’t bothered by it, or maybe he was one of those men that found pregnancy attractive. She didn’t know, and she didn’t care.

She headed to the library early in the morning on a Tuesday, having fallen asleep early after thoroughly enjoying David the night before. The castle was fairly quiet, and the library abandoned. Belle had told her the day before about a journey she and Neal were going to take in search of Rumplestiltskin, or the possibility of bringing him back, anyway. With Belle gone, she had the library for her own private use again (not that she was bothered by the bookworm anymore, rather she liked to think of her as an ally, or even a friend). Regina had given up on finding a way back to Storybrooke, at least for the time being. Instead, she set to searching for a way to defeat Zelena. She tried to find everything she could about magic that was so natural to her half-sister that she’d used it even as a baby. Regina had no recollection of using any magic before she’d met Rumplestiltskin, and the realization made her nervous about just how much stronger Zelena could be than she was. 

So she researched. She checked every page of every book for a way to defeat dark magic, especially that of a relative, without getting harmed in the process. It wasn’t as though she could just fight the other woman; Regina would not put her baby’s life in danger just to save a bunch of people she didn’t even like. 

Regina was running her fingers over the spine of each book on a shelf, searching for one she hadn’t stared at for endless hours yet, when she heard the library door open. She turned, finding Snow White and raising an eyebrow.

“Regina? Can I come in?” Snow hesitated by the door, shutting it behind her and standing just beside it.

“I don’t believe I’ve made it a private room, yet,” she answered dryly, plucking a book from the shelf and sitting at the table.

“Can we talk for a moment?” 

Regina sighed, nodding. “What would you like now, princess?”

Snow took the seat across from her, folding her hands in her lap and looking pointedly at Regina’s stomach. After a moment, she looked up to meet her eyes and pursed her lips. “I had thought we were… friends… sort of, now. I mean, I thought I would at least make the list of people you’d tell about being pregnant.”

Narrowing her eyes, Regina pursed her lips and clenched her hand around the book she was holding. It took everything in her not to snap at Snow, but really, it wasn’t the other woman’s fault. None of it was. So, she calmed herself down before answering. “It’s not really news I’m jumping for joy over. I had sex with someone to release some tension, got pregnant, because that’s just my luck, and now I’m having a baby less than a year after losing my son. So no, it’s not something I was excitedly telling anyone, and the only people who know know because they have damn dog noses, or they spent everyday in here with me.”

Snow nodded resolutely. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking of the difficulty of your circumstance.”

“You never do,” Regina retorted, giving her a look of boredom. “Was that all you came for? You wanted to hear me say it? Okay, I’m pregnant. I’m having a baby. No idea if it’s a bouncing baby boy or girl, though. I’m sure you’ll know almost as soon as I will when it’s born.” Setting her book on the table, she showed her hands. “Anything else you want to know?”

Tilting her head just slightly, Snow reached over and touched Regina’s arm. “Aren’t you even a little bit happy? You’re a wonderful mother, Regina, you were to Henry, and you will be to this baby.”

Regina jerked her arm away, glaring at the other woman. “I don't have  _ my son _ . I cannot enjoy life without him, regardless of this baby. You may be able to act like life is all sunshine and rainbows without your first child, but I cannot.”

Snow didn't budge, pressing with, “Well what about the father? Isn't he happy?”

“Go away, Snow. I'm not discussing this with you.”

“Is it… Robin?”

Regina snorted, rolling her eyes and standing up. Moving around the table, she left the library, heading to her bedchambers to be alone.

 

The next day, Regina planned to find David. He'd been pushing her about when to tell Snow, arguing with her that the pregnancy was just past halfway over and it was time. He'd told her they needed to allow Snow to absorb the information before the baby came. She knew he was right, and now that Snow had made her knowledge about the pregnancy clear, Regina figured it was time. She didn't need to go far, only to the door of her room, opening it to find him with his fist raised in the air to knock. 

“So… Snow knows you're pregnant,” he stated.

Sighing, she pulled the door further open, stepping aside to let him in. She nodded as he moved into the room and closed the door behind him. “So she does.”

David turned to look at her, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I can’t keep our secret from her now. She knows you’re pregnant, and she was talking about her theories of who the father could be, and I can’t just... “

“Oh? Is it an ego issue? You don’t want her placing the paternity on anyone else?” Regina snarled, her mood darker than she’d thought it was.

“Regina, enough,” he snapped. “She has a right to know. It has nothing to do with my ego, but she’s not going to stop talking to me about it, or bothering you about it, until she knows, and you know that. You know that’s how she is.”

She looked at him contemplatively for a long moment, rolling her lips together and giving a curt nod. “I know. I was actually coming to find you to discuss it. I’m… going to stay in here for a couple days. I’ll just use magic to get my meals for now. I don’t want to be in the way immediately after you’ve told her. I’m sure she’ll eventually come to find me, anyway.”

“So you’re going to go into hiding?” 

“David, what else do you want? She’s going to be pissed, probably more at me than at you, even though you’re her husband. She has more reasons to be angry at me in general, so of course she’s not going to be running around happily and skipping with joy.” Regina raised her hands in defeat, dropping them down to her thighs. “I don't know what more to give her other than space.”

He nodded. “Fine. I'll tell her today.”

“Okay. After breakfast. I'll eat with everyone, and then return here.”

 

As planned, after breakfast, David took Snow to their private chambers and pulled her to sit on a lounge chair with him. She stared at him, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed as he settled in beside her, tense and on edge. 

“David, what’s happened?” Snow asked softly, when he’d gone a full minute without saying anything yet. 

Licking his lips, he reached to take her hand, holding it between both of his. “I have something I have to tell you. You’ll be upset, and I won’t blame you for that, and I can’t really make excuses because there aren’t really any good reasons why I did what I did--”

“David,” she interrupted, “just tell me what it is and then we’ll figure it out.”

He nodded, squeezing her hand and looking her in the eyes. “I… uh, I’m the father of, uh, of Regina’s baby.” David winced as he made his admission, watching as the color drained from Snow’s face and her eyes widened in disbelief. “I’m sorry. Snow, I’m so sorry.”

“Dont.” She held up one hand, jerking the other from his grip and shifting away from him on the seat. “You’re right, there is no good reason for what you’ve done. But tell me anyway. Why would you do this, David?”

“I-I was lonely, I guess.”

“Lonely? I’ve been here the whole time! I’ve tried being there for you when you’ve been moody and pushed me away! I’ve been willing to listen and I’ve tried talking with you! How are you lonely?” 

He sighed, rubbing his palms on his pants to dry them. “We’ve been on different pages since we returned. We’ve differed so much on all of our viewpoints and you wouldn’t just listen to me about being upset, you just wanted to be positive and see the good and it upset me. I know it’s wrong, and that I shouldn’t have cheated just because I felt a disconnect and I felt lonely, but I did. And now Regina’s having my baby, and you’re having our baby, and hell, Snow, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t get to apologize. You don’t get to try to ease your conscience by telling me you’re sorry for sleeping with someone else, for sleeping with  _ her _ of all people. Why Regina? Just answer that.”

David watched her for a few seconds, surprised at how calm she was being, regardless of the words she was saying and the situation they were in, her demeanor was nearly still and resolved. “She felt the same way I did. She was… mourning, sort of, and we just, it just happened. I don’t know what else to say here.”

“How many times?”

“A few. I don’t know, a handful of times, I guess.”

Snow stood, moving toward the door. “You’ll find somewhere else to sleep. I need time to deal with this on my own. I don’t want to look at you right now.”

David nodded, watching her go. He wouldn’t push her just now, he knew that was only going to cause more damage in the long run instead of simply giving her space to digest the news and decide how to deal with it. He knew her well enough to know that.

 

Hours. It was hours before Regina heard anything. She had to give Snow credit for that, at least; had the situation been reversed, she would’ve been breaking down the other woman’s door within minutes. It was nearly evening, though, before she heard the frantic knocks and the ragged sound of her name. 

Hesitating only a moment, she opened the door to look Snow in the eye. “Snow.”

“Don’t you dare act like I'm bothering you.” The younger brunette shook her head, eyes wide and watery, rimmed with red. Her cheeks with splotchy, giving away the fact that she’d surely been crying since she’d received the news. Her appearance made Regina’s stomach clench and she pursed her lips.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, lowering her head just slightly.

“For what, Regina?” Snow hissed. “For what, exactly, are you sorry? For hunting me from adulthood on? For trying to kill me more times than I can count? For framing me in Storybrooke for Kathryn’s murder? For trying to seduce my husband when he didn’t know who he was? For forcing me to choose to give up my daughter?” Her chest heaved as she stared at Regina. “Or for getting pregnant by my husband?  _ My true love _ ! Is this payback? Is this finally you getting even with me for Daniel? What is it?”

Regina waited until she was certain Snow was finished, bringing her hands together in front of her and taking a step back. “I’m sorry for sleeping with him. I shouldn’t have, and I know that.”

“I thought we were building something here! I thought we were finding a friendship, making amends, and I thought you were becoming more like the woman who saved me from that horse when I was a child. Well I hope you’re happy! You’ve destroyed my true love now!”

“I’ve told you many times, and I’ll say it again, that girl is dead.” Snow had struck a nerve in her, and any further apologies died on her tongue. “Have I destroyed your true love? Last time I checked, David is still breathing, he is still living. You can choose to forgive him and continue on with your pathetically sappy life, or you can make the choice not to forgive him. Neither is my decision, but don’t you dare compare this to what you did to Daniel! Fucking your husband is not the same as you getting my fiancé killed!” Snow’s hand came up fast, making hard contact with Regina’s cheek. Taking a step back to re-balance herself, Regina brought her hand up to her face and glared at Snow. “Get out.”

Snow burst into tears, reaching one hand out for a moment, before finally taking a step back and turning around to leave. There would be no good in staying longer. There would be no productive discussion just yet, and she knew that. 

Regina waited until Snow was out of sight, then slammed her door shut and locked the hatch. 

Nobody saw her for days.


	7. Chapter 7

The way time was moving was maddening. Regina felt like she’d go half insane before this baby was born, and it was exhausting. She wasn’t ready to have a baby, and she only had three months left to go. She had no idea how she could get them to Storybrooke, and she’d all but given up hope for the possibility.

But for the moment, that wasn’t at the top of her to-do list. Snow had informed everyone in their small group of leaders that she wanted to meet. She wasn’t interested in going to a meeting, but if she hid away any longer, she’d look even more guilty for what she’d done, and she refused to let Snow humiliate her and treat her like she should be ashamed. Guilty, yes, but ashamed, no. She made her way to their conference room, finding nearly everyone there except her, only Grumpy was late, and Aurora and Philip were there in addition, which she didn’t understand, but she was over trying to understand Snow’s motives. 

Grumpy came rushing in brusquely behind her, his shoulder bumping into her arm as he moved past her. It took everything she had not to choke him with magic. Snow looked up when he came in, her eyes passing over Regina as though she wasn’t there.

“Good, it looks like everyone’s here,” she said brightly. 

“What’s this about?” Aurora asked, looking at the other princess.

Snow smiled. “David and I are going to have a ball to announce our baby!”

Regina’s eyes darted to look at David, suddenly feeling like she was going to throw up and choke in one go. She licked her lips, then pursed them shut so she wouldn’t say anything she shouldn’t. “Are you certain that’s the best idea? We still don’t know what Zelena wants, and a ball is only going to call her attention.”

Aurora nodded, surprising everyone in the room by agreeing with Regina. “That may not be the best idea right now.”

“Of course it is! We can show everyone that Zelena can’t stop us from living our lives!” Snow answered, her voice too cheerful as always. 

“Snow…” Aurora looked at her husband, guilt written clear as day on her features. “I have to tell her,” she whispered, before looking back at Snow. “She wants a baby. She told us she’d take ours if we told you! We-- I’m so sorry, I was protecting our baby. But if you announce your pregnancy with a ball, it’s only going to let her know there’s a baby for her now.”

“And you know it’s my baby she wants? What about Regina’s? She’s her sister.”

“We don’t know. We just know she wants a baby. We figured we’d just know when someone got pregnant.”

Snow nodded. “Then we will go on as normal.” 

Just then, Zelena flew in on her broom, interrupting the meeting. She looked at Aurora and Philip angrily, changing them into flying monkeys, and then looking between Regina and Snow. “So there are two babies to choose from… how interesting. And from the tension in the room, I can only guess that they have the same daddy?” she taunted knowingly and looking at David. Regina didn’t know how Zelena knew that, but that wasn’t what mattered. “Congratulations. Must be so exciting.”

“Get out of here!” Regina snapped, stepping between Zelena and David.

“Oh, I am. Trust me, I have no desire to be in this company,” Zelena snarled, looking around the room. “But I’ll be back. When there’s a fresh, bouncing baby.” The woman got back onto her broom and fled as David pulled his sword and swung. 

Snow stepped up to him, patting his arm. “Don’t worry, David, she probably wants her sister’s baby, not ours.”

David looked at Regina, eyes wide with realization and watching her hand come to rest on her rounded belly. “Regina, we won’t let her near the baby, you know that.” 

Regina nodded curtly. “I know. That bitch isn’t getting anywhere near my baby.”

  
  


Regina spent double the time researching once more, only this time, she was reading into every spell and curse that required a baby or baby body parts. There were so many, and all of them sent shivers down her spine at the thought that one of these things could be done to her baby. She had no idea how to protect her child, because she had no idea how to defeat Zelena. She needed Belle to get back, and to have figured out a way to bring Rumple back, because she needed him to help her. She needed his magic to help her defeat her sister. 

One night, during her deepened research and further lack of sleep, David came to her in the library. 

He shut the door behind him, sitting down in the chair across from where she was and folding his hands together on the table. “Regina, can we talk?”

She looked up at him, sighing softly. “What, David? Shouldn’t you be somewhere with your wife and her annoying army of munchkins?”

“They’re dwarves, Regina,” David retorted, standing again and moving behind her. He bent over, kissing her neck and pressing his lips to her ear, then whispering, “I know you know that, because I recall several of us reminding you frequently.” He then nipped at her earlobe, bringing his hands to her shoulders and stroking over them and down her arms. “But we both know I’m where I want to be anyway.”

Regina turned her head to look at him, immediately crashing her lips to his. It had been days, and she needed him desperately. David moved a hand around her body, cupping her breast as he returned the kiss. After a moment, he grew impatient, so he shifted, lifting her out of the chair and setting her on the table instead.

Reaching down, David gathered the purple velvet fabric in his hands, dragging it up her legs until it was bunched around her hips and belly. He moved his hand between her legs, stroking over the thin fabric of her underwear and groaning softly. “Mm fuck, Regina, I can tell how ready you are,” he murmured, pushing the material to the side. David slipped two fingers through her folds, gathering wetness and warming her up to being touched (not that her body ever needed that extra help). 

“Mm, just like that, David. Both…” 

He complied, pushing his fingers slowly into her as he trailed his lips back up her neck. “So good, baby.” David nipped her jaw. “So tight. You like that, don’t you, Regina? I think I like you pregnant, always so willing, wanting me to fuck you in any manner possible.” Smirking against her skin, he sucked slowly over her pulse point. He’d been amazed when he discovered that she really liked being talked dirty to. And the dirtier he spoke, the wetter she got. David would ask later if she realized it, if she’d always been that way, but not just yet. 

“Mhm. Don’t stop.” Regina leaned back on her palms against the table, rocking her hips just slightly against his hand. She loved the way he could reduce her to nothing with only just his fingers and his words. Wanting more friction, and more room for him to give it to her, Regina lifted one leg, kicking off her shoe and pressing her heel to the edge of the table. 

David looked down between them, groaning at the sight. He pulled back, earning a whine of displeasure from Regina. He'd be quick, but he wanted her underwear off. Regina caught on once his hands were at her hips, and she lifted her bottom from the table to let him ease the garment from her body. He tossed them aside quickly, then knelt between her legs. David slipped his two fingers back into her, pumping slowly and watching Regina’s gaze on his fingers as he worked her. 

“Mm, you love watching me work, don't you? You like watching how wet my fingers get inside you.” David smirked up at her. “You love how I touch you, don’t you, Regina?” He crooked his fingers just slightly inside of her, rubbing her g-spot and eliciting a low moan from her throat. “You love my fingers bringing you pleasure, hm? It’s not very Queen-like to enjoy being finger-fucked.”

Regina whimpered, rocking her hips a little faster and licking her lips as she watched him. “Only one thing I like more,” she breathed, enjoying the pleasure too much to counter his words. Smirking in response, David took the hint and wrapped his lips around her clit, sucking lightly. “Oh, fuck, David... “ Her chest heaved as her breaths started growing heavier. “Make that two things.”

Flicking his tongue against her clit, David stroked his fingers faster into her, brushing that spot over and over as his mouth worked her in unison. He groaned against her, enjoying how responsive she was. She’d always been active, but as her pregnancy advanced, she reacted to everything twice as strongly as she ever had before. 

Regina dropped her hand to his hair, gripping it tightly and moving her hips faster with him, her weight stabilized on her other hand pressed to the table. She brought up the leg she still had hanging over the edge of the table, hooking it over his back and dragging the point of her heel over his back. “Fuck me already, David,” she groaned, dropping her head back. 

Lifting his head, David looked up at her and shook his head, lips brushing her clit as he did. “I don’t think so. I want to watch you come on my fingers and my mouth before I fuck you. I know you want to. I know you love every time you get more than one orgasm out of it.”

She looked at him again, nodding and tugging his hair. “Well then, proceed.” He did just that, sucking her clit once more and then flicking his tongue over it repeatedly for a moment. 

Pausing, David looked up at her and smirked. “I’m not hearing enough appreciation from up there,” he teased, running his tongue slowly, teasingly over her clit again.

“Suck, Shepherd,” she growled. He chuckled, resuming his work and shifting his hand to slip a third finger into her. The moment he started pumping the three into her, she let out a low, rough moan, her chin touching her chest as she watched him through heavy-lidded eyes. “Mm, oh fuck… just like that, fuck,  _ David _ .”

He worked faster with his hand, knowing that when her voice got breathy like that she was getting close. David sucked more firmly on her clit, rubbing his tongue against it while he did. It only took a few more pumps of his fingers into her before she was coming hard for him, her walls tightening around his fingers and her hand gripping his hair tighter. She cried out, far too loudly for them being in a room that was so centrally located in the castle, but he didn’t care, and she didn’t seem to either. 

Slowing his hand, David lifted his mouth from her and watched her face as she came down. She was gorgeous, especially like this. He moved his mouth down her thigh, kissing a trail along the soft skin there to her knee. He smoothed his palms up her legs, gripping her hips and tugging her forward on the table. Standing, David helped her lay back, pushing her thighs further open and moving between them. He reached down, starting to undo his pants, only to be interrupted by a knock on the library door. 

“Regina?” The muffled call came through the door. He groaned, pulling back and helping Regina up. She moved to the door as he grabbed her underwear, shoving them in his pocket and moving to hide behind a row of books.

Regina opened the door, finding Red and Snow. She greeted the princess with a sigh. “What can I do for you now, Snow?”

“Oh, I was just checking to see if you knew where Charming was. I’ve been looking for him.”

She pretended to consider, shaking her head. “No, I’ve not seen him. I don’t think he’d ever be here.” Regina scrunched her nose, tilting her head forward slightly and giving her best put-on look of doubt. “Can he even read?”

Red rolled her eyes, looking at Snow, who pursed her lips. The princess heaved a sigh. “Regina, are you capable of giving a simple yes or no answer?”

“I don’t know, Snow, do you have the ability to keep a secret?” She glared at the other women, then, shutting the door and returning to the table she’d been working at before David had come in. 

  
  


Snow and Red moved around the corner from the library after Regina brushed them off, standing at the cross of the corridor just out of sight, hoping to see if David came out of the library without him seeing them. 

“Regina isn't any less of a psycho since we’ve been here. You think something would’ve made her stop being a raging bitch,” Red muttered, leaning against the wall. “I don’t get why you keep forgiving her.”

Snow shrugged. “She’s been through a lot. It’s been a hard year. I’m simply trying to be understanding.”

“Understanding of the fact that she tried to fix her pain with her vagina-- and your husband?”

The princess rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, he thinks he’s in love with her.”

Red’s eyes widened. “Did he tell you that?”

“No, but I know David. It’s just how he is.”

“He’s cheated on you before?”

“No.” Snow shook her head. “But he did with her, and now he’s going to father both babies, and he feels obligated to take care of her, and for Regina that’s sex, because she won’t accept any other kind of care. So David gives her sex, and the sex makes him think he’s in love with her, because David is very emotionally tied to his sexual partners.” She looked down the corridor, then back at the other woman. “But the baby will come, and Regina will continue being a bitch and David will realize he doesn’t really love her, he just loves their baby, and he’ll stop whatever it is he’s doing with her.”

“That’s a big leap of faith.”

“I’m a hero. Heroes always win.”

Rolling her eyes, the other woman pushed off the wall. “And in the meantime, you’re just okay with him having sex with her?”

“Of course I’m not, but it’s that, or I leave him, and he’s mine, not hers. I’m not stepping aside so they can be stupid. He’s going to realize how foolish he’s being, and then he’ll come back to me.”

The sound of a door opening echoed in the hall, so Red moved back to the wall, pressing her body as close to it as she could as they peeked around to see who it was. Sure enough, as Snow had suspected, David snuck out, glancing either way down the corridor to make sure the coast was clear, then ducking away.


	8. Chapter 8

She shouldn’t have eavesdropped; that had been a really bad idea. But Regina knew that Snow hadn’t really left, she knew that the other woman knew that David was in the library and that Regina was lying about his presence. So, while David cleaned himself up in a wash basin on the table by the window, Regina used magic to hear the other women from the hall, leaving David none-the-wiser to what she was doing. It had taken everything in her not to explode in anger at Snow’s words, and it took even more to not pull David back to her and fuck him louder than she ever had before. It had taken all of her energy not to make their private activities very well known, but that wouldn’t have been fair, and even if she was still considered the Evil Queen by more people than not, she wasn’t that cruel. She didn’t care what Snow thought, or that was what she tried to tell herself, but she did care about David. She cared about David a lot. And unfortunately for her anger, that also came with not wanting to hurt him. Instead, Regina had sent him away after a quick kiss and a promise to let him know if she found anything worth talking about while she researched. There was even more hatred toward Snow White growing in the pit of her stomach as the day passed, and she didn’t want David to be anywhere near that. Her poor mood led to Regina giving up her research for the day when evening came, instead choosing to retire to her room until morning. 

 

The castle was too crowded. There was an entire city, an entire kingdom of people living there, of course there weren’t many free rooms. But the few rooms that had been available when Snow kicked David out of their room, as luck would have it, were in the same corridor as Regina’s room. One of the two had been her father’s chamber, and the other had been Graham’s, when she’d kept him close. So when David had told her Snow told him to find somewhere else to sleep, she’d pointed Graham’s former chamber to him, requesting that he please not use her father’s. He’d agreed, taking Graham’s old room and leaving very little space between them. It had proven to often work out in their favor, especially late at night when most, or all, of the castle’s inhabitants were asleep. However, it also meant more of Snow lingering in Regina’s hallway and many encounters when Snow often checked in on David to see where he was. Rather, as Regina suspected, if he was with her.

David came late that evening, bringing a tray of food to her, something he did often when she missed meals. Regina weaved her fingers with his, tugging his hand and pulling him into her  room. She shut the door, latching the plank lock across and turning to look up at him. “You know, I’m not the only one who can make a request for a distraction. You don’t have to always bring food and pretend that’s the only reason you’re here.”

David scrubbed a hand over his face as he set down the tray of food. He shook his head. “I’m not really in the mood, actually.”

She nodded, unable to blame him. She knew guilt had to be eating him alive; he was a sensitive man, and she knew it hurt him to hurt Snow. “No, I suppose not.” Regina didn’t know what else to say; this wasn’t her thing, she wasn’t great at helping people through their problems. “Just grab the bedpost and you’ll be back in your room.” It was a fail safe she’d created for them, in case anyone came calling. All he ever had to do, if someone knocked on her door, was grab the bedpost, and he’d be magicked to his room in his clothes.

He nodded slowly, moving to her bed. Hesitating, David reached for the post, but chose to sit down on the edge of the mattress instead. He looked at Regina guiltily and sighed. “I don’t want to be alone.”

Regina looked at him for a long moment, then walked to stand in front of him. She tilted his chin up with her fingers and kissed him softly. “Then lay down in here with me.”

David wasn’t sure what made her willing to make such an offer, or what had caused such tenderness from her, but he wasn’t about to complain. He nodded, which she must have accepted, because she quickly stripped down to just a slip. It hugged her body, showing that it was clearly not intended to be used during pregnancy, but she still made it look good anyway. He started tugging off his clothes as she climbed into the bed, laying on her side, with her own gaze on him. 

Leaning up on her elbow, she waited for him to join her. When he did, he copied her pose, his elbow holding him up on the bed. Regina slid her hand into his and squeezed it lightly. “Do you want to talk?”

David sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I’m exhausted, and I’d really rather not think about my problems right now.”

She knew from his tone that he wasn’t saying everything he wanted to say, so she nodded. “Okay. But you know you can talk to me about them if you want to. I’m here, I’m listening if you need me to. You listen to me rant and complain and bitch, it can go both ways.”

He looked at her for a long moment, then leaned in and kissed her softly, hesitantly. Regina didn’t push for more, simply allowing him the slow and gentle kiss. Even if kissing him had a pavlovian effect on her; they never really kissed without it leading to sex. Regina untangled her hand from his and brought it to his chest as she parted her lips against his. She shouldn’t be so affected by his emotions and feelings, but she was, so she did her best to give him what he needed in that moment. 

David moved his lips from hers, kissing slowly along her jaw to her neck. He pressed his lips in light kisses against her skin, following the line beside the column of her throat. Bringing his hand to her waist, he gripped her and pressed his face into her neck. He breathed her in for a long moment, coasting his hand up and down her side slowly, slipping lower with each pass until his fingers skimmed her thigh at the bottom of the slip she was wearing. Pushing his hand beneath the fabric, he skimmed his palm up until he felt the smooth evidence that she was  bare beneath her slip. David squeezed her ass in his hand, flexing his fingers a moment and looking at her. “Turn over?”

The request was so quiet, hesitant maybe, that Regina nodded. Shifting from one side to the other, she looked over her shoulder at him. He moved closer, pressing the front of his body to her back, then moved his hand to her front, palming it over her breasts, back and forth, over and over. David kissed a slow trail along her shoulder, dragging the thin shoulder strap down with his teeth when it came between his lips and her skin. 

Regina could feel him growing hard against her ass, felt the frequency of his breaths increase as his hot exhales rushed over her shoulder. She moved her hand back, slipping it into his hair and holding him against her. It took next to nothing to turn her on anymore, and her own breaths began to shallow, especially when he moved his hand down the front of her body to the hem of her slip, tugging it up. 

He traced his fingers lightly along her thigh, down to her knee, caressing her soft skin and watching her breasts rise and fall as she breathed. Hooking his hand behind her knee, David brought her leg up, guiding her to rest her foot atop his leg and spreading her thighs for him, and as he moved his hand back up her thigh, he earned a soft moan from Regina. His hands were more calloused than they’d been even the first time they’d had sex, hard work and hunting causing the change, but the feeling wasn’t bad; she enjoyed the rough touch on her skin. 

David pulled himself from his underwear, lowering himself just slightly on the bed so he could line his cock up to her entrance. Pressing slowly into her and groaning at the sensation, he rested his forehead on her shoulder as he began pumping himself into her. Pregnancy had made her tighter, had just begun widening her hips, and he relished in the beautiful changes every time he was inside of her.

Regina brought her hand down, pressing her fingertips to her clit while he fucked himself into her, but he pulled her hand away, telling her  _ not now, soon, not yet _ . She complied, curious as to why, but he'd never left her unsatisfied before, so she let him have what he wanted.

He tugged lightly on the strap of her slip that he’d pushed down, telling her to take it off and watching as she did what he asked, freeing the one shoulder. David then tugged the slip down, revealing one perfect, swollen breast. Taking her hand, he led it up her body to the rounded flesh and squeezed her fingers around it. “Touch yourself for me. Let me see you.”

She nodded, waiting until he moved his hand back to her hip to roll her nipple between her fingers. Regina watched him, head turned and eyes focused on his face as his own took in the sight of her giving him exactly as he requested, and it had another rush of arousal spreading through her body. His slow, deep thrusts were building her up, making her need more, and she was certain she’d never had such erotic slow sex before in her entire life. She liked fast and emotionless, hard and rough, but everything David was doing had her body relishing in it, and her heart beating so fast she thought it may be trying to save itself and take flight before she got attached. Regina didn’t make love, but he did, and the intensity of it had her closing her eyes as he continued moving in her, shifting his hips until she gave him a gasp of pleasure that let him know he’d hit that incredible spot inside of her. And finally with that,  _ finally _ , he brought his hand to her clit and circled it slowly with two fingers. 

“More,” she breathed, pinching her nipple as he built her up, the pressure on her clit not quite enough to get her off yet, but enough to push her body closer and closer. “I need more.”

“No.” He kept his hips thrusting, kept hitting that spot, circling her clit and pressing kisses along the back of her shoulder as she gasped and whimpered and moaned, whispers falling from her lips that she didn’t want to say but couldn’t help, words on the verge of begging, her body needing that release, and her head and heart needing it to be over so she could go back to pretending he meant nothing to her more than a bedmate and the accidental father of her child. 

Regina bit her lip, reaching her hand back and gripping the hair at the top of his head, holding him to her as she rocked her hips back against him, breaking his pace in an attempt to make him go faster. Finally David complied, pounding himself into her, moving his hips in quick, shallow thrusts, five, six, seven… and Regina cried out, body tensing around him, foot sliding down his leg and hooking behind his calf as she spasmed blissfully. 

When she came down, David gripped her hip and fucked her harder, hips slapping against the perfect curve of her ass as he moved faster and faster, until finally, he let out a grunt and pressed his forehead to her shoulder once more, hips stilling as his release filled her. “Fucking hell, Regina.”

She said nothing yet, simply waiting for him to speak first, wanting him to talk more if he needed to, but not wanting to say anything and risk saying the wrong thing. But David simply pulled his hips back, falling out of her and using one hand to tug his underwear back up. Then, slipping his arm around her, he pressed his palm to the roundest part of her belly and kissed her ear, pulling her tight back against him. 

It was only before she was nearly asleep that she finally heard him speak, in little more than a whisper,  _ Thank you, Regina _ , to which she said nothing, instead allowing her body to relax in his hold as she drifted off to sleep tucked safely in his arms.


	9. Chapter 9

“Are you going to the ball tonight?” David asked, stroking his fingers over the curve of her belly. She held pregnancy well, and he enjoyed seeing her naked after they exhausted themselves sexually.

Regina let out an undignified snort, pushing up on her elbows to meet his gaze more comfortably. “Every time I begin to believe I've been wrong all along about your intellectual competency, you say something so idiotic that I wonder how you manage to put one foot in front of the other.” She pushed herself up then, sitting fully upright and pulling a sheet around her body.

“What's so wrong with that?” He sat up, too, dipping his head slightly to try to meet her gaze again.

“As though I'm going to go to a ball celebrating the pregnancy of the princess and her prince, whom, might I add, also knocked me up. I'm sure that would go over swimmingly.”

Sighing, he nodded reluctantly. He'd been doing his best for weeks now to get Snow and Regina into the same room to just talk, but neither woman would have it. Not that he could blame them. But it was exhausting. He wanted to be able to be as important to one child as he was to the other. He wanted to help raise them both. “Then I'll bring you dessert after.”

“Don't worry about it,” she grumbled, finally getting out of the bed and redressing. “I'm sure you'll be busy with your wife after the ball.” There was no doubt in her mind that Snow would take advantage of a sappy celebration to take back her husband’s attentions. She knew she had no place to be jealous, nor did she expect him to keep spending nights in her bed whenever Snow eventually forgave him for cheating on her, but there was a small part of her that dared to wonder what it would be like if someone chose her over Snow. It wouldn't be him, though; she did know that much. “You should be going. You have a ball to get ready for, and I have more research to do. It takes far more time to go through books when I spend half my days in bed.”

“All right.” David got out of the bed, gathering his clothes and beginning to redress. He watched her as he did, his eyes lingering once more on her rounded belly. Moving to her side, he slid his hand over her stomach, fingers tracing over her pushed out navel. “Not much longer.”

Regina looked at him, shaking her head. “No, not much longer.” She hesitated a moment, bringing her hand down and holding it in front of her abdomen for a few seconds, then finally placed it over his. “Not much longer at all.”

He kissed her temple, wrapping his free arm around her back and gently pulling her body against his. “Are you excited?”

“I don’t know. I never thought… I guess I never thought I’d have more after Henry,” she answered, changing the direction of the conversation before she accidentally told him things far more personal than she wanted him to know. “And even with this baby… my heart still aches every single day.” At least on the days she kept her heart in her chest, but she wouldn’t share that with him, either. Regina knew he would overreact if he knew she spent most of her days without her heart in her chest. She couldn’t handle pregnancy hormones along with having everyone in the castle, with the exception of David, hating her. Without being pregnant, she’d have stood tall and proud and ignored them all, but she was fairly emotional now, so she kept her heart out when she knew she’d be around people, so her hormones and feelings wouldn’t get the best of her. She probably should have kept it out all the time, at least unless she was alone and staying that way, because she’d had it in her chest far too often during her nights with David. And it was doing things. Things that made her angry and scared, terrified, really. But it was also doing things that made her feel warm and vulnerable, which made her feel stupid, and then made her even angrier with herself. Pulling away from him, Regina finished getting dressed and cleared her throat.

“Yeah… I should probably go, I know.” David looked away, tucking his shirt into his pants and pulling on his belt. “Are you sure you don’t want to come? It might be fun to dance.”

“And who’s going to dance with me?” Regina asked, rolling her eyes. “You? With your pregnant wife there, who, by the way, is throwing the ball to celebrate said pregnancy? No, I doubt it.”

“Sure I would.”

“David, just go. Enjoy your stupid celebration ball.”

He sighed, nodding and kissing her cheek. “Chocolate cake?”

“I’ll be asleep.”

“I’ll bring it anyway.”

“Whatever,” she mumbled. David sighed, nodding and slipping from the room.

 

Later, sitting alone in her room, Regina watched the ball through the mirrors in her chambers. She shouldn’t have, and she felt a little creepy doing it, but she was curious about how it was going. She also knew she should've stopped watching once the cheers and excited chatter started after the announcement, but she didn't. Instead, her eyes remained glued to the sight the mirror provided when David walked Snow onto the dance floor and took her into his arms, twirling her around the room.

They looked _happy_ , and the thought filled her mind like a poison seeping into blood. It made her ache to see the way he gazed at Snow, and though she couldn't see well enough in the distance to make out what they were saying, the adoration between them stung.

She hadn't realized how much she was hurting him by keeping so much of his attentions on her. But of course she was; Snow was his true love, his _wife_. He was not hers in any form and she had no right taking him away from his True Love. No matter how different the circumstances, he would eventually be as miserable as she had been when she'd lost Daniel. Even if he left Snow by choice, which she doubted he would ever consider anyway, it would still leave an emptiness in his soul.

She would talk to him. Regina was certain he'd drop by her room on his way to bed, after all, he had insisted he’d be bringing her dessert, even as she'd declined. When he came, she would tell him to go mend things with his wife even if it hurt her to say, even if it churned her stomach just to think about, because she'd learned long ago that that was what you did for the people you--

No. She would not use that word, wouldn't even think it. She didn't feel that way for him; she simply cared for him as the father of her child. She cared for him as a friend. That was all. And her jealousy was simply misplaced because she didn't have someone of her own to love her in that way, it had nothing to do with it not being David.

After what seemed like nearly an hour of torturing herself by watching them in the mirror, Regina waved her hand to make the image disappear, surprised at the sight of her own appearance. She looked far too tired and worn out, and she wondered when the last time she’d really looked into a mirror had been, but couldn’t recall it. Her cheeks were thinner, almost sallow, and there were circles under her eyes darker than any she’d seen since her days as Leopold’s wife. She wondered if she might just have to give up on searching for a way home until after she gave birth; this couldn’t be good for the baby.

Sighing, she grabbed a book and decided to lay in bed. If she fell asleep and David came, he could wake her, or choose to leave her sleeping, she didn’t particularly care. So she settled onto her bed, a long night gown on and her legs tucked under the covers. There were five pillows in various spots around her body, something that made her too warm in sleep, but without them she couldn’t sleep at all. Pregnancy wasn’t a comfortable condition, especially not when her child moved around so much it sometimes felt as though there were four of them inside her womb. Still, once she was settled and had her book opened, she drifted far too easily into sleep.

 

She made her way to breakfast early the next morning, knowing that most people would be sleeping off the effects of too much alcohol and late night celebrating. As she had suspected, the dining hall was nearly half empty, though David and Snow were there together, smiling cheerfully and doting on each other. Regina had to stop herself from snarling as she passed them on her way to the buffet of food. She was only a few feet past their table when she heard David’s voice speaking in a whisper, then heard footsteps behind her. Continuing on, she grabbed a plate, refusing to turn around until she felt his warm hand on her shoulder as she looked over the food options for the breakfast.

“Regina.”  

Just barely turning her head in acknowledgment, she lifted one eyebrow and picked up a biscuit. “You didn’t come.”

“No, I didn’t.” He pulled on her shoulder lightly, trying to get her to look at him. “I’m sorry. I--”

“You were too busy enjoying the ball with your wife and then taking her to bed after? I’m not worried about it, _Charming_ , really. I told you I didn’t want dessert, anyway. However, it would have been nice had you just admitted you wouldn’t be coming so I wouldn’t have bothered staying awake.” Not that she had anyway, but he didn’t know that.

“I’m sorry, Regina.”

Turning to face him, she shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips, rolling her eyes for good measure. “David, I really don’t care. You don’t owe me an explanation. Now may I continue getting my breakfast in peace?”

Sighing and raising his hands placatingly, David nodded. “Are you going to the library today?”

“Probably. I do everyday. Why?”

“I’d like to talk to you alone later.”

“Was the sex that dull?” she drawled in annoyance.

“Very funny, Regina.”

“Yes, I’ll either be there or in my room. Now go back to your wife so I can eat. Consuming for two these days, in case you’d forgotten.”

David walked away, grumbling under his breath, but Regina didn't let it bother her. She didn't have a right to be upset about this, and she knew that. David spending the night with his wife was what he should have been doing all along, and Henry would hate her if he knew she was coming between the fated idiots anyway. Still, David was really her only ally in the castle, and she would miss the companionship even more than she’d miss the daily orgasms.

 

She decided just to go straight to the library. Her mood was dark, she'd woken up that way, and with every passing moment it was getting darker. Taking her breakfast with her and setting it on her research table, she gathered two books and she settled into her usual chair, picking at the biscuit and fruit she'd taken. Regina opened the first book, flipping through the pages on realm jumping magic. She’d read this book before, but it was long ago, shortly after she’d found out about Rumple enchanting that goddamn dagger so she could never hurt the Charmings in this world. She’d read about all the realms she could cross into instead, thinking of the possibilities and the ways she could kill them elsewhere. Of course she had known all along that it would never be possible, because it would involve somehow getting them into another realm, along with herself, and making sure she could kill them and then quickly get herself back into her own world.

She’d cursed herself at that point for having alienated the Hatter, and having abandoned him in Wonderland. She could have used him to use his hat, to force the Charmings into a different realm and then killed them. There would surely have been two people she could have picked up for body count on the return trip. Alas, she hadn’t believed any options would work better than the stupid curse Rumple had lied to her about and sold her on with those pretty lies.

But it had all led to her getting Henry, so she wouldn’t take it back. Regina sighed, resting her hand on her stomach and leaning back in her chair. It was so different carrying a baby than it was taking one home when he was three weeks old, but the love overwhelmed her in both cases. Her heart beat steadily in her chest this morning, and the memory of bringing home Henry and falling in love with his sweet little face immediately made tears spring to her eyes. She slammed the book shut, sweeping her arms across the surface of the table and sending everything to the floor. Getting up in a fury, Regina began grabbing books from their shelves and tossing them across the library. It wasn’t satisfying enough. She needed to hear something shatter, to see something break the way her heart was broken at the loss of her son. All of her research did nothing but take her in circles, stupid, never-ending things they were, and she was tired. So tired. She was ready to give up on living, to give up on being without Henry, being alone, being a leper.

And every time she had that thought, she felt a kick, or a series of hiccups from inside of her belly. She felt a reminder that she was growing a child, one who couldn’t replace its brother, but maybe would bring some relief to the loss, the way Henry had filled the hole in her heart from casting the curse. But that was such a high expectation to hold an infant to, to expect it to take away pain and heartache just by existing. Regina didn’t know how right that felt, either.

Pausing in her tirade, she looked around the library and picked up a lantern and tossed it across the room, watching it shatter into thousands of tiny pieces, the metal frame falling to the ground with a mere dent.

_Not enough._

She used magic to raise a chair from the ground, spinning it in the air and sending it straight through a window. The shatter sounded wonderful. It brought relief, making her body tremble as she finally let herself release the tension. She collapsed against the nearest wall, letting her body slide down against the surface as tears filled her eyes and slid down her cheeks. Her body wracked with sobs, and she clutched to her center, fingers splaying out over the surface of the baby bump.

Regina was halfway through a broken sob when the door opened. David shut it behind him, then hurried over to crouch in front of her, hands squeezing her arms as his eyes looked her over. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

She sucked in a few sharp breaths before scoffing at him. “Am I hurt? _Am I hurt_ ?” she hissed, looking into his eyes and ignoring the tears that were still flowing. “What the hell do you think, David? Everything. I have lost everything. I lost my love, I lost my son, everything I worked so hard to earn by redeeming myself, friendship… _everything_. And Zelena is going to take my baby and I don’t know how to stop her. I don’t know how to defeat her. She is stronger than me, she’s not pregnant, she doesn’t need to worry about being careful to protect an unborn baby. She’s going to take my baby and do whatever it is she wants to do with it, and I won’t be able to stop her. So no, David. No, I am not okay. I will probably not ever be okay.”

David sighed, sitting down beside her against the wall and wrapping his arms around her. “We’ll figure it out, Regina. We’ll figure out a way to beat Zelena and to protect our baby. I won’t let anything happen to it.”

“You don’t know that,” she sobbed, clutching to his arm and pressing her forehead to his shoulder. She was exhausted. She felt defeated. She was done.

“I do. Heroes always win, right?” David kissed her hair. “And you’re not a villain anymore, Regina, you’re one of the good guys, and you’re being tormented by a villain. We will win. _You_ will win. And when you do, it’ll feel so good.” He continued to hold her, keeping his arms snug around her and occasionally kissing the top of her head. There was little he wouldn’t give to see her not be so weighed down by her demons and the challenges she was facing, to see her truly relax and be able to enjoy herself.

Finally, after she calmed down and her sobs stopped, when her body was still and her breaths were slowing, becoming even again, David pulled back and looked at her, smoothing one hand over her thick hair. “You ready to get up?”

“I’m tired. I’m just going to go to bed.”

David nodded, standing and cupping her elbows to help her up. “Do you want me to take you?”

“I suppose. You said we needed to talk anyway.” Regina pushed away from the wall, David's hand on her back guiding her too tenderly. She hated it. And yet, she continued to let him walk her out of the library and down to her corridor, into her room and to her bed. Sitting down on top of the covers, she patted the spot next to her. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”

Shaking his head, he took her hand and sat next to her, squeezing her fingers. “You need to sleep, and then eat. We'll talk when you're feeling better.”

Regina looked at him, furrowing her brow in confusion. Something was different. “Just tell me now. I don't need to wait.”

He sighed, nodding slowly and looking her in the eyes. “Snow forgave me. Or she said she did, and uh, so I'm going back to share a room with her. It's time for me to fix my marriage.”

Had he not been looking at her, he would've missed the momentary flicker of hurt in her eyes, for she recovered quickly and lifted her head, chin up. “Of course. Why wouldn't you?” she answered, her words even and emotionless. “She's your wife. It's the right thing.”

“Regina, I--”

“Don't. Don't apologize. I don't want it.” Pulling her hand from his grasp, she shifted farther back on the bed. “What I do want is to sleep, so if you could go now, I can get to it.”

David waited a moment longer, then stood and turned to face her. “I'll bring you lunch if you'd like, if you want to rest today.”

“No. I can get my own meals, Charming.” She laid down, shooing him with her hand. “Go be with your wife.” She said the words with such finality that he knew she wasn't going to discuss it further.

And so he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry <3\. Let me know what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's angsty right now, but I promise it is and will always be an Evil Charming story, but there are certain things that have to happen for the story to go the way I'm planning, so bear with me through the angst :)

David leaned against the wall outside her door, rubbing his hand over his face. That look in her eyes had nearly broken him, no matter how briefly she’d allowed it to show. He hated being another person to hurt her; he was supposed to be her friend, really her only friend here. Without Henry beside her, she didn't really have anyone aside from him, but he needed to fix things with Snow. She was his wife, and also having his baby, just as Regina was. There was no way to do right by everyone in this situation, and it was exhausting him.

After a moment of hearing nothing but silence from her room, he walked to the room he’d been using since Snow had kicked him out of theirs. He rummaged through, gathering his clothes and the few things he’d brought with him to make it more comfortable. It wasn’t much at all, and he bundled it all in a sheet to make the load easier to carry. Walking down the corridor to the wing of the castle that his and Snow’s room was in, he looked into each common room as he passed, hoping to see his wife in one of them. He didn’t want to run into her in their room yet; he wanted to be alone. He needed a few hours to think, to just be himself without pressure from anyone.

He heard her voice through the closed door of Red’s room, so David hurried past it, dropping his sheet of things just inside their joined room, and then he headed out of the castle and down to the stables. Sneaking in, after making sure no one had seen him, he pulled the door shut and leaned against one of the stalls.

“You all right?”

David’s head shot up, looking for the source of the voice. He saw Robin Hood sitting on a stack of hay bales just inside the doors opposite the ones he’d entered. “Ah, sure.”

“That doesn’t look like the face of a man who is.” Robin got up, walking closer to him and leaning against the stall beside him. “Want to talk about it?”

“I--” Shaking his head and dropping it back against the stall door, David sighed. “I don’t know. It’s not really something I can work out by talking about.”

The other man nodded, holding out a flask. “Would you like a drink, then? Sometimes it’s nice to take the edge off.”

“Alcohol will just muddle things more.”

“On the contrary,” Robin answered. “I’ve often said that alcohol makes us brave enough to say or do the things we would not allow ourselves to do sober.”

David nodded slowly. “I’ve heard that. In our other world, back in Storybrooke, their world had a saying like that, something like ‘the drunk mind speaks the sober heart’ or something.”

“So?” Robin tilted the flask in his direction, offering it to him once more.

Taking it, David swigged the liquid, hissing at the hit of it in his throat. “I’m going to be a father.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Two times over. I mean, I’m already a father, but I didn’t get to do much there. Emma was an adult by time I finally got to really meet her, and then half the time it was just constantly about fighting villains and going on quests, trying to beat the bad things so we could live a normal life. It wasn’t even a year that I knew she was my daughter and actually got to try to know her, so it’s different. Now I have to do it for two babies, with two different women.”

Robin simply nodded, allowing the prince to keep his flask and watching him take another drink. “It is quite a predicament.”

“I’m scared enough of being a father, I don’t know how to do right by either of them.”

“The babies, or the women?”

“Snow’s my wife, I have to stay with her.”

Robin nodded, tilting his head and saying, “It’s code, right?”

David sighed, blowing out a heavy breath. “Yeah. I never thought I’d be the guy that would cheat, and then I did. And again. And at some point I just stopped feeling bad about it, at least until I had to tell Snow I’d gotten Regina pregnant, too. And then when Snow asked me to leave, it was practically… it felt like a pass.” He held up his hand, stopping Robin from saying anything. “I know it wasn’t, I’m not stupid enough to actually think that. But I used it as an excuse to be okay.”

“You and your wife seemed happy at the ball.”

“We were. That’s the thing, though, when I’m with Snow, and we’re not fighting or trying to defeat some evil, it’s good, you know, it’s really good.”

Robin took his flask, sipping from it himself. “Sounds like there’s more to that.”

“Regina is impossible. She can be cruel, she has a sharp tongue and a harsh temper. She has these walls she puts up to keep everyone out, and she can be so cold because of it, keeps herself at a distance, you know? She pushes people away. And she let me in. Maybe not all the way, but enough to see some of the deeper parts of her that she doesn’t let anyone else see.”

“Mm.” Robin pressed his lips together, folding his arms over his chest. “So what is it about Regina that draws you in, if you love your wife?”

“I don’t feel like a fake prince with her. I always thought I’d save the world, or at least do something to change it a little bit. I never thought the only thing I would do is kiss a princess from her eternal slumber. And Snow, she wants all these things from me, excitement and the desire to rule a kingdom and its people, but Regina doesn’t want any of that from me. She doesn’t want _anything_ from me. She knows I was a shepherd and that’s enough for her, I don’t need to be a prince or unflawed.”

“I can see the appeal of that.” Robin nodded, taking another drink and offering the flask back to David. “But how do you decide? Do you do the honorable thing and stay with your wife, or do you go with the woman who makes you feel a bit more like yourself?”

David groaned. “I just need to focus on fixing things with my wife, I only wish that didn’t also mean leaving Regina alone without anyone on her side.”

“And you still love you wife?”

“Of course I do! We're just different than we used to be. We grew in different ways. But she's my true love. I lost my way, but she's forgiven me, and that she was even willing to do so…”

Robin nodded. “Sounds like you know what you need to do.”

David nodded, too, rubbing his hand over his face again. “Then why is it so hard?”

“Because it seems as though you and Regina have a camaraderie that you no longer share with your wife. You're the father of her child, too, surely your wife knows you can't just abandon a child because of its other parent.”

“Perhaps not.” He had nothing else to say in that moment, so the men drank in silence, and after a while David excused himself so he could be alone.

 

He eventually made his way back to the castle, heading to the chambers he'd once again be sharing with Snow. She was there already, dressed for bed, and it wasn't until then that he'd noticed just how long he'd wandered the castle grounds after leaving Robin in the stables. His head wasn't any clearer than it had been before he'd gone down there. Sure, he knew what the right thing to do was, but somehow it still felt… _wrong._ It felt wrong leaving Regina with no one, and he hoped both women would accept him remaining friends with her, because he couldn't abandon her. And he didn’t want to raise a child with so much hostility surrounding them.

Snow looked at him expectantly as he climbed into the bed after changing. Sighing in exhaustion, he pulled her close and closed his eyes, ready to sleep. His brain was too fuzzy from drinking for much talking anyway, and she seemed to accept his silence as she settled in beside him.

 

The next morning after breakfast, David went to the library when Snow had gone off with Red to do whatever they were going to do, search for berries or whatever it was they got up to, he didn’t know. Regina was there, as he’d expected she would be, but she said nothing to him, merely looking up from the book she was reading, only to return her gaze nearly immediately to the page her fingers were holding. He sighed, sitting down across from her at the table and taking one of the books from her pile to look through. They read in silence for an hour, and David had considered saying something several times, but each time decided against it and continued reading instead. Finally, Regina cleared her throat, and his head shot up, eyes finding hers instantly.

“What do you want, David? Shouldn’t you be with your wife?”

“I’m helping you search for a way to protect our child. Or to get us back to Storybrooke, whichever comes up first.”

“I figured you and Snow would be off picking flowers for her to weave into her hair and skipping along while holding hands and singing songs about love,” she countered dryly.

Rolling his eyes, David tapped the book with his index finger. “Regina, stop. I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I’d like to remain your friend. However, if you don’t want to be mine, I understand, and I don’t blame you, but in case you’ve forgotten, there’s a fifty percent chance Zelena wants your child, and a fifty percent chance she wants Snow’s, but there is a one hundred percent chance she wants mine. There is a very real possibility that I am going to lose one of my children, and the other isn’t going to be a replacement, so don’t even go there.” He held up one hand, stopping her from saying whatever harsh words she could think up. “So I’m going to do research with you, as I have plenty of times, until we figure something out.”

She eyed him, seemingly accepting his words. All she gave was a nod, though, then she returned to her book, and he to his. This time, only mere minutes passed before she spoke again. “You didn’t hurt me, by the way. You don’t have the ability to hurt me.”

David sighed again, biting his tongue to keep from responding in kind. He knew she was pushing him away, putting the walls back up that she'd allowed him past. “Okay.”

Even if he'd wanted to respond further, he wouldn't have had the chance; the door opened quickly, and Snow barged in, looking guilty when she saw David and Regina simply sitting at the table with books in front of them.

“Oh, David… I wasn’t expecting to find you here,” Snow stated, her voice higher than usual.

Regina rolled her eyes. “Yes, you did.”

“I’m sorry?” Snow tilted her head, a fake smile plastered on her face.

Standing, Regina rounded the table and stood in front of the other woman. “Yes, you did. You just didn’t expect him to be doing something as innocent as reading a book,” she taunted. “Did you expect to find him fucking me on the table? And what then? Did you want to watch? Did you want to catch him in the act to make him feel _oh, so_ guilty about it? Trust me, he already does. He regrets fucking me, he regrets getting me pregnant, so you can just move on with your stupid little game.” Her lip curled into a snarl, her eyes narrowing.

The younger woman stammered, her cheeks turning pink. “What do you want with him Regina? Why _him_? Why did you have to try to take my husband? What, I was responsible for you losing your love, so you had to try to take mine?”

David stood, moving to stand to their sides. “Neither of you need to be arguing right now.”

“Shut up, David!” both women yelled, Regina raising one hand to his face and Snow turning to glare at him. He raised his hands and took a step back.

“I don’t want your stupid husband, Snow. I wasn’t trying to get revenge. He was a warm body, willing, well, more than willing, and entirely unavailable, which meant I wouldn’t have to worry about feelings or him getting attached to me.” She chuckled darkly, leaning ever so slightly towards Snow. “Besides, he’s a good fuck. A bit too… pretty, but god, that body… you really are a lucky woman. You’ve gotten everything you’ve ever wanted. What a dream life. Oh I suppose you probably didn’t want your husband to cheat, but hey, at least he’s here and alive, with a beating heart that wasn’t ripped out by his mother because a stupid little girl couldn’t keep her mouth _shut_ !” The last of her words came out in little more than a growl, and Regina gripped Snow’s chin in her hand. “Not everything is about you, _Princess_.”

Then, with a wave of her hand and two clouds of purple smoke, Snow and David were suddenly in their room.

“Goddamnit!” David shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

Snow watched him for a minute, brow furrowed lips pursed. Finally, she took a step toward him and took his hand. “David, why can’t you stay away from her?”

He shook his head, clenching his jaw. “This has nothing to do with her, Snow. It has everything to do with my child!”

“Our baby is going to be fine.”

“ _Ours_ , probably, yes, but mine with Regina? No, probably not.” David pulled his hand from hers and scrubbed his palm over the back of his head. “I get that what I did was wrong, and I get that you’re angry with me despite being willing to forgive me, but that is still my child, too! You may not care what happens to that baby, but I do. And if you aren’t going to help me find a way to stop Zelena, or as least not stand in my way while I search, _then step aside_!” he hissed, turning and backing out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think! We're getting to the parts I've had written since I thought up this story two and a half years ago, so hopefully you guys like it all.

A few days passed of David bunking with Robin and Roland. He didn’t really talk to many of the other men at the castle, at least not often enough to be comfortable enough to ask to share a room, and Robin was at least part of their counsel. Besides, he was the person who’d helped David (sort of) through his crisis, or at least got him to a point of self recognition of his errors. And Robin was willing to share his room, he only had a chaise lounge to offer, but it was in a corner of the room, separated by a wooden divider, and it allowed more privacy than he’d have gotten anywhere else except Graham’s old room, and he didn’t fully trust himself to be that close to Regina and not go to her.

He missed her. He missed Snow, too, but he’d grown used to that ache, had recognized the beginning of that feeling ages ago, hell, maybe even before the curse was ever cast. They’d grown apart nearly as quickly as they’d fallen in love, but he still loved her, always would, so they’d continued fighting their battles together. But Regina… Regina he missed too much, and that was new. Too new. He’d never been a man with many friends, acquaintances, sure, people he had met along with way and gotten on well with, but nobody he saw on a frequent basis whose company he actually enjoyed, and Regina was that for him, and losing that had him feeling rather lonely again. The same kind of lonely he’d felt when they slept together the first time, the night their child was conceived.

But David knew that he needed space from both women. Snow was still furious with him, and he with her, if he was honest. It hurt him that she was okay with Zelena taking his and Regina’s child. While he understood that Snow didn’t want her baby to be taken, it angered him that she would show such disregard for his child with Regina. And if he went near Regina, Snow would surely find out and be even more upset with him, no matter what they were doing, as she’d proven when he was researching with Regina in the library the previous day, an act entirely innocent in its own.

So for now, he was alone. He ate his meals on his own, left for his patrols without telling anyone goodbye, walking among the merry men as they exited the castle and walked the grounds. He spent more time among men than he could recall ever having done. If he were to admit his feelings about it, David would say it was less exhausting, at the very least. There was something relaxing about being with a band of men who would have each other’s back no matter what happened, who would defend each other to their death. And the time away from Snow and Regina was helping him clear his head, for he’d put himself in situation so complicated even the thought of _thinking_ about his problems exhausted him.

But they had a counsel meeting today, and David wasn’t sure what to expect. He was grateful to walk alongside Robin Hood into the conference hall, glad to not be walking through the door alone. When they entered, his stomach clenched immediately at the sight of both women. Snow had red-rimmed eyes, and she looked as though she hadn’t been getting much rest. Regina, on the other hand, looked exactly the same as she had when he’d seen in her in the library, her cheeks thinner than when they’d arrived in the Enchanted Forest, the rounded curve of her belly obvious despite the dress she wore that looked like it was intended to pull the focus away from her center.

He was breaking these women and he had no right to, but he also knew that if he wasn’t careful, one of them would end up hurting even more, and he didn’t like either possibility. Robin clapped him on the shoulder, drawing his attention from the women, then sat down in one of the open chairs at the round table. David took the seat to his right, watching as Regina sat down to Robin’s left. Snow sat beside him, brushing her hand over his shoulder as she settled into her seat and giving him a faint smile.

“We haven’t talked in a couple days,” she whispered, her gaze flitting to Regina and to David’s face.

“I’ve… been taking space. What you said really upset me, and-- Snow, this really isn’t the place to talk about this.” She looked as though she wanted to argue, but Granny walked briskly into the room and set a tray of tea and cups down onto the table, so Snow shook her head and folded her hands together in her lap.

The older woman paused as she picked up two teacups, frowning. “I’m sorry, I only thought there were six of you, I’ll go grab another cup.” She looked around the table to see who was different, _Grumpy, Regina, Robin, David, Snow, Ruby…_ “Wait, there _are_ only six of you…” She furrowed her brow and pinched Ruby’s arm. “Did you go and get pregnant, too? I swear there must be something in the air with you women.”

“Chill, Granny, not pregnant,” Ruby answered, jerking her arm away and rubbing the new sore spot. The older woman frowned again and closed her eyes, listening, shushing the group when they started talking, listening again and counting. _One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine… ten, if she included her own_. She opened her eyes, tilting her head and moving beside Regina, nudging David to scoot over.

Granny moved her hand above Regina’s belly, asking, “May I?” And though Regina raised her eyebrows, she nodded slowly. Pressing her hand to Regina’s bump, she cleared her throat. “You’re having twins, child.”

Regina gasped, bringing her own hand to her rounded center as the older woman moved hers away. Two babies. _Two_. “How do you know?”

“There are three heartbeats coming from your body, though I swear I only ever heard two until now.”

“Oh. Right.”

David watched her, tilting his head. “Regina, why do you sound unsurprised?”

“I’m very surprised, David, I don’t know what you mean.”

“You may be surprised that we’re having twins, but you’re not surprised that she wasn’t hearing the right amount of heartbeats. Why?” he asked, clenching his jaw.

Regina looked at Granny, then Snow, and then finally at David, though she focused her gaze just to the right of his eyes, not wanting to look at him when she admitted the truth. “If this is something you wish to discuss, you can find me yourself. I’m not discussing private matters in front of this entire pathetic counsel. Let me know if your wife lets you out of her sight.” She stood then, leaving the table and the room.

 

David followed her after a few minutes, explaining to Snow that he needed to know whatever it was Regina wasn’t telling them, because it had to do with his children. He was still reeling about that, too, that they were having twins. It was incredible, and somehow it seemed fitting for Regina to have two, because it would give her another person to distract her, to keep her happy and keep her attention. Another little person she could love with that huge heart of hers.

When he got to her room, he knocked on the door and received no answer. Pushing it open, he found the room empty. David made his way across the room to the balcony, wondering if she might be out there. Again, he found nothing. He almost turned and left, then he saw a flash of red down below on the ground. Of course. She was at the bench. _Their_ bench. He quickly left the room, making his way down and outside.

“I was wondering how long it would take you. I’m surprised.”

“Why?” he asked, sitting down beside her, his arm firmly pressed against hers as his gaze settled on her profile.

“I expected it to take longer. I haven’t really seen much of you.”

“I’ve been taking some time to myself.”

“For you and Snow, you mean? I can’t blame you, you need to fix your marriage, I just… I didn’t expect you’d stop coming by entirely. I-- your voice… it’s good for the baby, uh, _babies_ , I guess, to hear both of our voices.”

David hesitated a moment, taking in her words and wondering if she was lonely because he wasn’t spending time with her anymore. It wouldn’t surprise him, but her willingness to show it, even if she was blaming it on the babies, is what surprised him. “I haven’t been with Snow, either. I’ve been bunking with Robin and Roland. I needed some time, some space to sorta clear my head.”

Regina turned her head, looking at him in surprise. “I see.”

He didn’t want to continue on that line of discussion; he wanted to know what she was keeping from him about the babies’ hearts. “Regina, tell me why you weren’t surprised Granny was confused about the hearts. What’s going on?”

Skipping a beat, she sucked in a slow breath and looked down at her hands, which were folded together over the roundest part of her belly. “I take my heart out sometimes. A lot of the time,” she answered softly. After a moment, she finally moved her gaze back to his eyes, finding a mixture of emotions she couldn’t decipher.

He didn’t speak immediately, thinking over her confession for several long moments that dragged on and felt like far more than they were. Finally, he spoke slowly, “So whatever was between us, this… I don’t know, friendship, I thought we were building, it means nothing to you because you’ve been keeping your heart out of your chest?” David asked, eyes burning into her in a way that singed her soul.

She wanted to correct him, wanted to tell him _No, that’s not true_ and that her heart had been in her chest nearly all of the time they spent together, and that she only kept it out of her body when she was with everybody else, to protect herself, to keep her from being hurt by their looks, the filthy, hateful stares. To keep her heart from hurting when people whispered about what kind of spawn would come from her and what kind of evil her child might bring. But the words escaped her. The words disappeared because of how was looking at her, like she’d betrayed him, hurt him in a way that he didn’t deserve, when really it was the opposite that was true. He’d hurt her. He had hurt her in a way he had no right to, but she’d allowed it.

Her eyes, making little saccades between his and over the features of his face, left him wondering what she was thinking, hiding, even, but David said nothing. He was too angry with her, hurt, maybe, that perhaps the friendship they'd built was only one-sided, and when she continued without saying anything, his words exposed that anger, “And what is it, Regina, that makes you think you won't end up not loving our child-- _children_ , when you've been keeping your heart out of your chest? Did you learn nothing from Cora?”

Regina recoiled, dropping her hands to her sides and gripping the edge of the bench in each hand. “Don’t you dare compare me to her,” she growled, her upper lip curling as she glared at him. “You don’t get to shame me for how I deal with my pain. You, of all people, do _not_ get to make comment on how I get by.” She pushed up, standing and turning in front of him. “ _You_ came to me to help you deal with your pain. _You_ pursued me. _You_ pushed, even when I told you you shouldn’t, and while I could have said no, I’m not married. I was just a lonely woman who’d lost everything, you’re the one who is married. You’re the one who cheated on your wife to deal with your pain, so don’t think that you can tell me how to deal with mine.” She turned then, starting to walk away.

David stood quickly, following after her and grabbing her by the arm gently, pivoting in front of her so he could keep her from walking away. “I’m sorry.”

“Shut up.” She tried to move around him, but he moved with her, eyes watching her carefully.

“No, Regina, I mean it. I’m truly sorry. I didn’t mean that. I know you’re not her. You’re nothing like her.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, I am like her, I’m bad, no matter how much I may try to be good. I take things that aren’t mine, I hurt people I care about, I hurt people I don’t care about for that matter. I’m like poison, David. I’m bad for you, and I’m bad for our… for our children. I am the epitome of darkness.”

David shook his head, bringing one hand up to cup her cheek. “That’s not true, Regina. You will be amazing to these babies, and I know that.” Giving her a faint smile, he brought his other hand up to the side of her belly and stroked it gently. “You were so good to Henry, I saw that in a way most people didn’t get to see, and I’m grateful I did. Please don’t take what I said to heart; I know you’re not Cora, and I know you, I know you would be able to love them even if you never again put your heart back into your chest, because you’re the type of person who doesn’t just love with her heart, you love with every single part of you, and I know that.”

She eyed him for a minute, simply standing there and watching him as she took in his words, let herself think about them. There was no real reason she could think of that she should believe him, no proof that he meant what he was saying instead of simply using his words to convince her not to be angry with him. But as she looked into those bright blue eyes, all Regina saw was sincerity. He was always so earnest, and it drove her insane, but she nodded slowly and tilted her cheek into his hand. “Don’t you ever compare me to Cora again.”

“I won’t, I promise,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I truly didn’t mean it. And I didn’t know you were still hurting that much, why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasn’t about Henry,” she answered, with a little shake of her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I do still miss him terribly every single day, but taking my heart out these days hasn’t been about wanting it to stop hurting because of him.”

David took her hand carefully, pulling her with him as he started heading down the path to walk through the castle grounds. “Tell me, then, please? Why have you been taking it out?”

Regina sighed, trying to keep her heart from racing at the feeling of his large hand closed around hers. “I don’t care about the people here, mostly I don’t, anyway. But I’m weak, and I have always allowed people’s thoughts of me to have an effect on how I feel about myself,” she admitted quietly, looking in front of them instead of at him. No, she couldn’t bare to look at him just then, not when she was making such an intimate confession. “I hear them all, you know. I hear them talking about me, talking about how bad of a person I am, and then turning that into implying my child-- well, children, will be evil.” She brought her free hand up, wiping under her eyes from the dampness on her lashes, though she’d been greatly trying to stop herself from tearing up. “I know that I have done much evil, and I know that I haven’t atoned for my sins yet, but I have tried, I have been trying since that day I let you take Henry home. And still, all they see is evil.”

He squeezed her hand lightly, brushing his thumb along the side of it. “I don’t see you as evil anymore, Regina, you know that, right?”

“I know.” She nodded, giving him a faint smile. “But I didn’t want to allow them to get to me, so I have been taking my heart out when I’m outside of my room, when I have to see other people. I’ve been trying to protect myself.”

David stopped walking, and she took two more steps before she realized it when she felt his hand tug hers. David spun her into him, pulling her close and bringing both hands to her face. “So you… you’ve had it in when we’ve spent time together?” When Regina nodded, he lowered his head, pressing his lips tenderly to hers and kissing her slowly. He felt even worse for having mentioned Cora than he’d felt moments ago, and he was relieved to find that whatever it was that they were to each other, whatever it was he was feeling, it was at least partially mutual.

She let him control the kiss for a moment, allowed him to keep it slow and tender, but soon she was kissing him harder, bringing her hands to his sides and tugging him as close as her body would allow, sliding her tongue out to meet his as her nails bit lightly through the thin fabric of his shirt. Regina wanted him, and she hated that once this kiss ended, he would probably go back to his self-inflicted solitude, away from her, away from his wife, and she wouldn’t have another moment like this with him for whatever length of time it took him to come to her again. So she put herself into the kiss, dragging her teeth over his lower lip and moving her hands up to his chest, feeling the contour of his muscles and wishing she could take him to her room and undress him. But she couldn’t, so she eventually slowed the kiss and pulled back, opening her eyes and looking up at him.

“Thank you,” he whispered, pecking her lips softly, then following that with a kiss to her forehead. “For loving our babies, and for understanding what I need. For being my friend, too.”

Regina gave him a weak smile and nodded. She felt tired, exhausted actually, and she needed to lie down. “I’m going to take a nap, I think. Do you want to walk with me?”

“Yes, yeah, I’d like that, Regina.”


	12. Chapter 12

Regina had spent the next several days reading everything she could about pregnancies and babies. She didn’t know much at all about pregnancy, change it to a multiples pregnancy and she knew absolutely nothing. The books in this world weren’t all that helpful, though she did find out that most twin births happened around thirty-five or thirty-six weeks pregnant instead of forty for a single birth. If that was accurate, she calculated that she only had about four weeks before she should be anticipating the birth of her babies. 

She’d been thinking about nearly nothing but Henry and her baby since she’d realized she was pregnant, and now she had to think in plural, and on top of that, she hadn’t actually thought about what giving birth might entail. Everything of the limited information that the books provided terrified her, and she was even more concerned since she’d never thought she could get pregnant in the first place, so she’d never thought of it in any manner before. She’d been perfectly happy just having Henry and not needing anything more than him, and to wonder if she’d just have to be alone when she gave birth… the thought scared her. Regina didn’t even know who would be birthing her babies. It was all a mess and she didn’t know what to do or who to turn to.

She’d been avoiding David since he’d left her at her room door after their discussion a few nights previous. Not that she knew if he’d even tried to look for her, but if he had, he didn’t find her anyway. There was another discussion she needed to have with him, several, really, because they’d hardly discussed anything that two people having children should discuss. Particularly in their situation. Would he want her to let him take the babies to his and Snow’s room? Would he ever stay with her so he could be easily accessible if she needed help? Did he want to be there for the birth? So many questions ran through her head and she knew she’d eventually have to find him so they could discuss it. And soon, because if she only had four weeks until they were born, she needed to be planning. 

The other thing they hadn’t talked about was Zelena. She didn’t want to think about her sister taking one of her babies, but she had no idea what the witch was planning, so she didn’t know what qualities she would need from the baby, or if it mattered, so she had no way of knowing if she would come for one of her babies, or if she wanted Snow’s. Her stomach churned at the thought, no matter what baby Zelena wanted, David was right, he could be losing one of his children and she hated that, even if it wasn’t one of hers that he could be losing. 

She sighed, closing the book she’d been reading that had talked about tearing and pain, and she crinkled her nose as she leaned back in her chair and considered the very real possibility that in a month she could be holding her new babies in her arms. Her thoughts wandered, and she found herself wondering what Henry would think. Though she was certain he wouldn’t be happy that they were David’s children, she wondered if he’d like having baby siblings, brothers, or sisters, or maybe one brother and one sister. She let herself imagine for a moment that they weren’t displaced from the land that had become her home and that she could have Henry and her twins all in the same house, all together. Everyone she loved in one single place, at least for most of the time. 

There was a small smile on her lips when the door pushed open after a soft knock, and Regina looked up to find David. She tilted her head, waving him in and shifting to sit up straighter in her seat. “I was just thinking about how we need to talk.”

David smiled brightly, that stupid, boyish grin that she found she liked far more than she should. “Oh yeah? Am I the reason for that smile, then?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she answered, chuckling softly. “Actually, I was thinking about how Henry would feel about having siblings.”

“I bet he’d love it.” He sat down in the seat adjacent to hers, nodding as he considered. “He definitely would. He’d be a really good big brother.”

Regina ran her hand over the length of her belly, resting her chin in her other hand, her elbow pressing into the table to keep her head up. “Too bad we’ll likely never know.”

David reached over, covering the hand on her middle with his own and rubbing it gently, his hand large enough compared to hers that his fingertips pressed lightly to her stomach, while his palm felt the coolness of her hand beneath it. “Are you feeling okay, Regina?”

“Hm?”

“Your hand is freezing. It’s the middle of summer, you should be burning up, not cold.”

“I don’t know, I have a headache, but otherwise I’m fine. Maybe I just need to walk around a bit and get moving, maybe even get some fresh air.”

“Then shall we?” David asked, standing and holding his hand out for hers. She stared at him for a moment, furrowing her brow and shrugging. 

“Are you allowed?”

“Oh shush, come on, let’s go walk. We can talk while we do.”

 

They wandered the grounds, and Regina knew he was waiting for her to bring up what she needed to discuss, but he wasn’t pressing, which she was grateful for, but she also wasn’t certain she would pursue these topics of discussion without a little push. 

Apparently tiring of walking in silence, David stroked his hand down her upper arm. “Are you warmer now that we’re in the sun?” he asked softly, taking in the long sleeves of her dress, the cotton fabric in dark blue, the way it hung over her belly, even though other than the swell of her breasts and stomach, every other part of her looked thinner than before she’d gotten pregnant. He wished, not for the first time, that he could take some of her stress from her, take some of the weight on her shoulders off and carry it himself, but she wouldn’t let him, he knew that.

Regina gave a small nod. “Yes, a little. It’s nice to be outside. I wish…” she trailed off, not knowing exactly what it was she wished anymore. There were so many things she would change if she could.

“What?” he pressed gently, letting his fingers finish moving down her arm until they reached her hand, and he weaved them between hers and held her hand snugly in his. 

She closed her eyes at the small affection, opening them after a moment and giving a little shrug. “I wish I didn’t have to be so on edge about my sister. I don’t want to have to worry anymore. I barely leave the castle, hell, I barely leave the library or my room, because everything makes me worry about it, and all I do is research and I find nearly nothing.”

David nodded, stroking his thumb against hers and tugging lightly on her hand. “Talk to me. You said you needed to, so let’s talk. Let’s see if I can ease your worries some.”

“Did you know that twins are usually born four or five weeks sooner than a single baby?” she asked, deciding on the easiest part first.

“I did not. So… really soon, then, huh?” He gave her a gentle smile. “That’s kind of amazing. We’re gonna have our little babies here soon.”

Regina bit her bottom lip, looking over at him and letting a small smile of her own grow. She couldn’t help it, not when he was holding her hand and looking at her like that, with excitement instead of nerves, with happiness instead of upset. “What do you want? Boys? Girls?”

“How about one of each? A little princess who looks just like her mother, and a little prince who’s as handsome as his father?”

Rolling her eyes, she let out a soft huff of laughter on an exhale. “Hopefully he doesn’t get his father’s ego.”

“Or his mother’s,” he teased back. “But honestly, I’ll be happy about whatever they are.”

“Good, because we probably won’t have one of each anyway.”

“Why not?” David asked, tilting his head.

Regina shrugged. “There isn’t much information about multiples in pregnancy here, but from the little bit I gathered, identical twins run within family lines. So… they’d probably be identical like you and James were.”

“Huh.” He considered that, his brows furrowing together as he looked ahead of them in thought, still walking along one of the paths that moved through much of the castle gardens. “I don’t think I ever knew that. That’s kind of cool.”

“I don’t know who will deliver the babies,” she murmured, bringing up another point she’d wanted to discuss. It was still easier than the next few, the few that related to him and his physical proximity to her and their children after the births. “Who delivered Emma?” Not that she particularly wanted the same person birthing her babies, but she knew Snow and David had a very small circle of people they’d allowed around them right before she’d enacted the curse, and she didn’t imagine they’d had a proper doctor around. 

“Doc did.”

“The munchkin?”

David laughed heartily at that, because he knew she was just pushing his buttons for her own amusement. Without thinking about it, he dipped his head and kissed her cheek. “That would be the one.”

“Mm, nope, that won’t do.” She considered then, trying not to focus on the heat still lingering on her skin from his easily given affection, and how he did that so easily and without careful thought, she had no idea. “Why didn’t this stupid curse reversal bring Victor here, at least I could have trusted him not to let the babies die.”

“What about Granny?” David suggested. 

“Granny?” Regina rolled her lips as she thought about it. “I suppose that makes a fair amount of sense, assuming she’d be willing.”

“I’m sure she will.”

Arching an eyebrow in doubt, she turned to look at him and shook her head. “What gives you that impression?”

He squeezed her hand again, letting them swing between their bodies as they rounded back on the path that led the way to the castle doors. “Because I think Granny likes you more than she lets on. Or she at least respects you.”

“Why?” she asked skeptically. 

“She respects that you still come to our meetings, and that you accept your part in the blame for our actions. She respects people who don’t try to take the easy way out and people who don’t blame others for their own decisions. And I think she sees the struggle you’ve gone through to be good.” David watched her as he spoke, trying to see if she gave any indication to what was going on in that brilliant mind of hers. “She’s a wolf, Regina. She may not change these days, but she once did, and she knows what it’s like to have a… another part inside that you have to fight, that has done things that you don’t approve of… she knows what that’s like.”

Regina nodded then, relieved they were nearly back to the castle entrance, for she was growing tired and she needed to rest. “I will speak with her about it soon, then.” She ran her free hand over her forehead, wiping sweat from her hairline. “I’m tired, I think I’m going to head up to my room.”

“Do you want me to walk you?”

“No, I’ll be okay.” She slowly pulled her hand from his and gave him a weak smile, turning and heading toward the castle doors. She staggered for a moment, stopping to correct her balance, before taking a few more slow steps. Regina closed her eyes tightly in frustration, opening them slowly to continue walking, but her head pounded with the brightness of the sun, and the headache she’d largely been able to ignore since they’d started walking was right in the forefront of her focus now as she tried to make her way inside. She just needed to get to the castle, to the darkened atmosphere, but her feet didn’t want to carry her, instead, she felt herself swaying, calling out David’s name before everything went black.

 

David was terrified as he carried her inside and up to her bedroom, calling out for Granny and Doc as he did so. Doc wasn’t entirely qualified, but he was more qualified to help in most manners than the rest of the castle’s inhabitants. Granny was the first to follow him, stepping into Regina’s chambers right on his heels and waiting until he’d laid her down to move to Regina’s side. She pressed her hand to the queen’s forehead, feeling to gauge her temperature, not that there was really any clearer way to do so in this world. She listened for Regina’s heart rate, and it was slow, definitely slower than it ought to be, but both babies’ hearts were beating steadily where they should be. 

After assuring David that the babies and Regina were all alive and mostly okay, she sent him to get a hand towel and soak it in cool water. Once he was gone, she tried to wake Regina, but received no immediate response. “Come on, you've got to hold up for these babies, Regina,” she murmured gruffly. Granny moved down to look at Regina’s feet, pulling her boots off her and examining the swelling. It could just be normal pregnancy swelling, but she was so thin that Granny doubted it. She pressed two fingers to her shin, pushing them down and lifting after a moment to see if the skin pushed back out. It didn't, which had the older woman shaking her head.

David returned, holding the small towel to her. Granny put it on Regina’s forehead, letting it cool her skin. “Was she complaining about pain or anything when this happened?” 

He shook his head. “Regina wouldn't, even if it was the worst pain. She mentioned a headache and being tired, but she wasn't complaining about it, no. Is something wrong, Granny?”

Ignoring him for the moment, she continued looking over Regina, then patted his arm. “She’ll be okay, I think, she just needs to take it easy. Will you help me get her on her left side?”

David pulled the covers down from beneath her, bending over her to bring her to lay on her side. She groaned, eyes fluttering opened, and David smiled in relief, cupping her face and kissing her softly, quickly, forgetting about Granny’s presence. “You're awake,” he breathed, kissing her forehead then, and rubbing his hand up and down her arm. “We need to get you on your left side, okay? Relax, though, I can do it, I just wanted to tell you what we’re gonna do.”

She nodded slowly, looking up at him. Regina let him shift her, and her right hand slid to her belly. “Oh, David, the babies?”

He could tell that her voice was right at the edge of panic and he covered her hand with his. “Granny said their heartbeats are perfect. They’re okay. And I caught you before you hit the ground,” he assured her softly, watching her affectionately. “Have you been feeling sick?”

Shaking her head, Regina covered his hand with her own. “No, I’ve been getting awful headaches, and I've been more tired, but otherwise I've been fine.”

Granny patted her ankle, nudging David out of the way. “I think you're fine, but you need to relax. Stress isn't good for the babies. Or you.”

Regina eyed her for a few seconds, tilting her head. “Don't lie to me. What are you really thinking?”

“It  _ is _ stress, but sometimes that can raise your blood pressure, your body is reacting. So I don't want to see you leave this bed more than a couple times a day, David and I can bring you your meals.” She raised her hand to stop Regina’s protests. “It'll keep those babies safe.”

With a resigned sigh, Regina relaxed into the bed and nodded. “Fine.” She didn’t want to put the babies in harm’s way; she couldn’t imagine what she would do if something were to happen to either one of them.

David thanked Granny, watching Regina carefully while letting his hand lightly caress her hair. He looked at the older woman for a quick moment, just long enough to say, “I’m going to stay with her. I’ll come get you if something happens. Will you let Doc know I may come for him, too?”

“Sure. I’ll bring some tea and fruit up in a little bit. Let her relax, understand?”

He nodded, then watched as she patted Regina’s leg again and turned to leave. David pulled an armchair from the corner of the room over, dragging it right up close to the side of her bed and sitting down in it. “You’re gonna be okay,” he murmured, stroking his hand along her cheek.

“What will Snow think?” she asked softly, changing the subject and covering his hand with her own against her face.

“If Snow can’t understand why I’m here, then she and I have more problems to work out than even I thought we had.”

“So why  _ are _ you here?”

David shook his head in amusement at how impossible she could be sometimes, and then he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “Because I want to make sure you and our babies are okay. I care about you, Regina, all three of you. Now get some sleep.”


	13. Chapter 13

Regina hated a lot of things, she always had. Ever since she was a little girl, she’d been too passionate to be indifferent. She didn’t just dislike pears and blueberries as a young girl, she’d  _ hated _ them. She hadn’t simply disliked mushrooms and frilly, lace trimmed dresses, and balls, and magic as a teenager, she’d  _ hated _ them. As she’d once hated Snow and her stupid dwarves, then Emma, and now her sister. So no, she’d never been good at indifference. But this, this ridiculous bedrest, this uncertainty of her state of being and that of her babies, there was nothing she’d ever hated more than she hated this. She wanted to be reading through books, trying-- no matter how aimlessly-- to figure out a way to save her babies, or to get back to Henry, whichever she could work out first, but she couldn’t. It was torture. 

Well, it was  _ nearly _ torture. The fact that David had been here every single day since Granny had told her she wasn’t allowed out of bed wasn’t so much torture. He’d insisted on bringing all her meals, even if it meant intercepting Granny to do so. She wondered how Snow felt about it, but she also couldn’t deny that having him with her made it easier, the being stuck in bed. He’d doted, soothed, comforted, and distracted her. The first couple of days she hadn’t let him, not really, though he’d tried his hardest. But now, six days into bedrest, she couldn’t resist it. She’d been starved for affection for so long, or maybe she was going soft, no matter what it was, pushing him away when he was trying so hard was too much to effort for something she didn’t really want to do.

Especially in moments like this, when he was laying on his back in her bed, and she was resting against him, her head on his shoulder and her ankle hooked over his leg. There was too much space between them though, despite him holding her as best they could, the protruding roundness of her belly was too much to allow them to be snug against each other. And Regina… she wasn’t a cuddler, never had been, never had the opportunity to be, even if she’d wanted to, not unless she counted Henry when he was little and was willing to, but that was different (not that she would admit  _ how _ it was different, especially considering who it was she was currently cuddling). 

But for now, David was stroking his fingers through her hair and pressing soft kisses to her forehead, and she wasn’t acknowledging to herself or to him just how good it felt. Simply having someone who wanted to be at her side was enough to at least keep her from being entirely miserable, and having it be David, someone she was most definitely attracted to, be the one to do it, well, so no, she didn’t hate this part so much. He was warm and made good company. They’d spent so much time talking, something they hadn’t done much of between their moments of twisted limbs and sated desires. Not that they’d never talked, they had had plenty of conversations, but most had been about Henry growing up or different things in Storybrooke and Neverland, nothing deeper, nothing really about their pasts. 

It was…  _ nice _ to have someone interested in getting to know her, curious and fascinated about the things she said, stories she told, and Regina wouldn’t let herself think about that aspect, about how good it felt, because she knew that was only going to bring her trouble. She couldn’t be falling for him, not when he was married and they were so close to having their children. All falling for him would serve to do would be to bring complications, something she couldn’t handle anymore of. And sex was different, it was intimate, sure, but actually taking the time to get to know someone was far more intimate, especially for someone who’d had countless sexual partners over the years. 

But the talking was what they were doing now, laying in her bed and trading stories from their childhoods. David was regaling her with tale after tale, willing to do most of the talking to keep her distracted, knowing how private she was and that she wouldn’t want to share nearly as much as he was willing to, and she’d found herself laughing at most of his stories.

“You’re telling me that a woman taught you how to sword fight?” Regina asked doubtfully, raising an eyebrow. She was good with a sword herself, as was Snow, and a decent amount of women, but it wasn’t all that common in their world. Men liked to keep their women below them in skill and ability.

“Sure did. She was a sweet girl, too, clumsy and awkward, but when she held that sword, she didn’t seem clumsy at all. She told me her name was Joan, but I know that’s not true. Never got her real name though.”

“You didn’t see your friend or her again?”

David shook his head. “No, she was from Arendelle. Once she left, I never saw her again.”

“Does that kill your masculine ego?” Regina teased, tilting her chin to look up at him.

“Not at all.” He shook his head, grinning down at her. “I know a good few women who can kick my ass sword fighting. Probably not hand to hand combat though, so I’ve got that going for me.”

“Like you would hit a woman.” She snorted, rolling her eyes. “You only get brutish with women if you feel it’s necessary.”

Nodding, he leaned in to kiss her forehead, tugging the ends of her hair playfully. “Not even with you. Never found it all that necessary, and besides, you could kick my ass with magic and with a sword, so I never wanted to try all that much.”

Regina let out a low, dark chuckle, stroking her fingers lightly down his chest, tracing circles against his abdomen with her fingertips. “See, you are smarter than you look,” she murmured, meeting his eyes and winking lazily.

“Ha ha.” David stuck his tongue out, tugging her hair again, just a little harder that time, but still playful. They both laughed for a minute, and when the hearty sounds of their voices changed to soft titters, he sobered and watched her, eyes moving over her relaxed features, the way her eyes weren’t so guarded and her cheeks weren’t as sallow as they’d been even a week ago. Bedrest was doing well for her, bringing the life back to her skin and hair, showing her curves more graciously instead of making her seem underfed and overstressed, a product of her dire circumstances. He took her in, the way her lips curved so easily with the smile she laughed through, and the way her eyes danced with her amusement in a way they hadn’t just seven months ago. Bringing his free hand up to her cheek, he slowly stroked his thumb there, enjoying the warmth of her skin that had been so absent the day she’d fainted. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured, his eyes’ saccade allowing him to look deeply into each of her eyes. “Extraordinarily so.”

The compliment caught her off guard, not because she didn’t believe it, nor was it because he’d never complimented her before. No, he had, plenty of times, in fact. He’d always told her she was sexy, stunning, hot… but  _ beautiful _ , and the way he’d said the words, so tenderly, affectionately, they impacted her in a way that she should not have allowed, but it was so good to hear. She gave him a faint smile, just a small thing to show her appreciation. “Thank you. I know, but thank you.”

His laugh was boisterous then, a chortle she hadn’t heard from him any time that she could remember, and the sound was wonderful for her soul. Regina’s smile grew as he calmed, a soft huff of amusement ending his laugh, and she shook her head.

“What?” David asked, taking her hand, their fingers woven together and slowly caressing each other’s. “Is that smile actually thanks to me this time?”

“Idiot,” she whispered, shaking her head and squeezing his fingers between hers. “I don’t know how you make it through the day.”

“I happen to know that you find me adorable.”

Regina arched an eyebrow. “Oh, do I?” Instead of answering her, he dipped his head and pressed his lips gently to hers, kissing her softly, affectionately. His lips were so warm, and he smelled like fresh air and sunshine, though she didn’t know how, since he’d been spending so much of his time holed up in her room with her. She couldn’t help but return his kiss, pushing it a little harder, changing it so it was full of hunger instead of tenderness. David moved to hover over her, arching his back out and pressing his hands into the bed on either side of her, giving more into the kiss while still being cautious. 

After too short of a moment, he pulled back and pressed his forehead to hers. “No misbehaving, your majesty,” he murmured, grinning and giving her a quick kiss to follow, chuckling at her furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips. “Don’t pout.” David moved off her, laying on his side and propping himself up on his elbow. 

“I don’t pout.”

“Then… don’t be grumpy.” Shrugging, David stroked the back of his finger along her jaw. “Granny said no overexerting yourself, you know that.”

Regina grumbled. “Still isn’t fair.”

“You, Regina, have had your last orgasm for the next several weeks. Few months, maybe.”

Narrowing her eyes, she grabbed a pillow from the edge of the bed and hit him in the face with it. “Ass.” David shoved the pillow away, then moved his hand to her belly, caressing over the length of it, top to bottom. Regina brought her hand to his, stilling it against her just above her navel. “Aren’t you supposed to be entertaining me? If you aren’t going to fuck me, the least you can do is continue distracting me.” Her lips curled up, grinning at him as she traced her fingertips over the back of his hand.

“I told the last story,” he countered. “It’s your turn.”

Regina looked up at the ceiling, thinking for a long moment what story she should tell him. After a few moments, she shifted onto her side and led his hand to the side of her belly, moving both their hands over it. “When I was young and I fell in love with Daniel, I’d actually convinced myself we would find a way to be together.” She smiled faintly at the memory she had yet to expand upon for him, but she took a moment, letting thoughts of Daniel fill her mind. Finally, she continued, “In the beginning, when we first started whatever you would call it, dating, I suppose, whenever my mother was traveling or temporarily distracted from her focus on trying to crush my spirit, I would sneak away and spend hours with him. Long, lovely, innocent hours, and even those never seemed to be enough.”

“What was he like?” David asked, taking advantage of the small break in her story.

“He was… everything wonderful you could possibly imagine.” Her smile was bright, broad and genuine, and he immediately knew he found a subject he’d love to listen to her speak about. “He was kind, gentle, caring, and selfless. He’d even vocalized his agreement with my mother that I deserved better than him, that I deserved someone who could give me everything, but it was different than Cora, she wanted me to have everything she ever wanted without caring about what I wanted. Daniel wanted me to have everything in the world because he loved me and he wanted the best for me.” Regina looked at him, eyes bright, the corners crinkling pleasantly as she continued. “He loved me in a way I don’t think I’ll ever be loved again. You know what it’s like, the difference between having a romantic love and having a child to love. I love Henry more than I’ve ever loved anyone in the world, and I’ll never be able to regret how things came to pass leading to the casting of the curse, because that was how I got Henry, but there’s just something about loving someone romantically.”

David nodded easily, for he knew well the difference. “Was he the only…?

Nodding sadly, she cast her eyes down for a moment, fighting the tears that were welling there. It was pointless; they spilled over anyway, so she looked back up at him and shrugged her shoulder. “I was forced to marry the king, and then, well, who could love someone so evil? I had lovers, of course, even a few that were fairly recurring, but they were just bedmates. Daniel is the only person I’ve ever been in love with.”

Bringing one hand up, he brushed away the few tears that had fallen, tracing the track of them over her nose from the way she was laying. Then, David leaned into her and kissed her softly, settling his hand around her jaw, thumb stroking over her cheek as his lips moved tenderly against hers. He’d known her story was tragic, had known she’d lost her true love when she was young, but he couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like to spend decades without having someone love you, without having someone hold you with affection instead of simply lust. 

Regina returned his kiss for a minute, then finally brought her hand to his chest, pressing him back gently. “I don’t want to be pitied.”

“I don’t pity you; you’re too strong and willful to be pitied. However, I do think that someone out there is missing out. Someone is missing out on having your love, because from what I can tell, it would be a truly wonderful gift to be given.” Not wanting her to feel obligated to say anything else, David wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest, relaxing back down against the bed and kissing her hair. It hurt him to see her cry, a feeling he wouldn’t have imagined having in a million years, but it pierced him to his soul. Closing his eyes against her, he rubbed his hand up and down her side soothingly, occasional moving over the side of her belly. 

After a while of simply staying in his hold, Regina pulled back and sighed softly. “That wasn’t supposed to be a depressing story, I was actually trying to tell something happy.”

He grinned, glad she wasn’t dwelling. “Then do tell.”

“My initial point was that I wanted to marry him. I was young and in love, and all I could see was a future with him, and I didn’t care if we would have to live in a shack or a… a hovel. I just could picture it, living with him, children running around in a field and me there, making dinner for my family while he got cleaned up from working at someone’s stables.” Regina paused, holding up a hand and turning onto her other side, facing away from him. He immediately wrapped one arm around her middle and tugged her snugly against his front. 

“The domestic life, huh?”

Regina simply nodded. “I loved being mayor of Storybrooke, and I was good at being the queen. Evil, yes, but my kingdom thrived economically. But if you had asked me at seventeen what I wanted out of life, all I would have said was that I wanted a family to love and who loved me. I wanted Daniel and our potential children, who would hopefully look just like him, and I wanted a whole houseful of them.”

David kissed her shoulder, smiling against her. “Did you have names picked out for these potential children?”

She nodded. “I did. Henry was one, so that happened. The others are classic in the same way, Jonah, Rose, Evelyn, Joel, and Lydia.” Regina smiled, stroking her fingers over her stomach. 

“You wanted six kids?”

She chuckled at his tone, nodding again. “I did. I was an only child, or, well, I thought I was, and Daniel only had one brother, who was off adventuring before Daniel was fully grown, and we both thought it was lonely and we wanted our children to have lots of siblings.”

David hummed, kissing the back of her head. “I can understand that. It’s a lonely fate.”

“It is. And I felt bad giving that to Henry. I always thought maybe I’d adopt another, but I’d had to go through Gold and I didn’t really care to ask for his help again. And then he started rebelling against me and then he went and got Emma, and I didn’t want to have another child then because I was struggling with who I was, and I didn’t want to put another child in that, and I didn’t want Henry to think I was trying to replace him since he’d found his real mother. I always wanted him to know that I loved him more than anyone and I would be there when he was ready to accept that just because I was the evil queen didn’t mean I didn’t love him.”

David was about to respond, but there was a knock at the door. He frowned, having no guesses as to who would be coming up to her room this late at night aside from Granny, who never bothered to wait after knocking. “I’ll be right back,” he murmured, kissing the side of her head and getting up from the bed to go to the door. Pulling it open, he found Belle standing there, eyes wide. “Welcome back.” He stepped aside, inviting her into the room.

Regina pushed up, sitting up in the bed and looking at the other woman. “Belle, what’s wrong?”

The younger woman looked over at Regina. “Rumple is alive.” Regina immediately felt a sense of relief wash over her. If anyone could beat her sister, it was Rumple. “The Wicked Witch has him.”

And just like that, the small glimmer of hope disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.


	14. Chapter 14

Regina stood slowly, moving to stand in front of Belle. “What do you mean she has him? What happened?”

“Neal and I found a way to bring him back, there was a key, sort of, and it had a symbol, so we went to find what it belonged to. It marked Neal, and then Rumple was there, and he…”

After waiting a second for Belle to finish, Regina lifted her hands questioningly and pressed her to hurry and continue. “He what?”

“He sort of,” she said slowly, twisting her features as she moved her arms in a hug-like gesture, “absorbed Neal. And then the Wicked Witch got the dagger, and now she controls the Dark One. Now she controls Rumple.” Belle hesitated a moment, before looking at Regina earnestly. “Regina, I need your help.”

“Then we’re going to get him.”

“Like hell you are!” David countered, moving to stand between the two of them. “Regina, you have  _ babies _ to worry about.”

“And I can take care of them while getting Rumple back.” She rolled her eyes and looked over at him, lowering her voice. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

He clenched his jaw, folding his arms over his chest and planting his feet as he considered. “I understand that, and if it weren’t for the fact that you were explicitly told to take it easy and to stay in bed almost constantly, I wouldn’t even be arguing. Regina,  _ please _ , I need to know you and the babies are okay. I will go with Belle, we will manage.”

“I don’t know how to break into the castle, David,” Belle interrupted, “and with Regina’s magic, we might have a chance.”

David considered a moment, holding up one hand and nodding as he realized he might just have the solution. “I know someone who knows how to break into the castle without magic.”

“Who?” Belle asked.

“Robin Hood. He snuck into the Dark One’s castle once, when his wife was pregnant with Roland and she was sick. He needed a wand to heal her. You set him free, didn’t you?” 

She nodded, remembering the time she’d heard and saw the torture Rumple had put him through. “Yeah, I did. Okay, well, let’s see if we can get him to help.”

David nodded in confirmation, then turned fully to face Regina. “I need you to take care of yourself, Regina. I’ll go get Granny and let her know that I’m leaving for a day or two, she’ll keep a good eye on you, okay? Just please, relax and take care of our babies?” He brought his hands to her belly, stroking over the sides. “There’s not much longer before these two should be arriving, your only job right now is to make sure when they do arrive, they arrive healthy, which means you need to get back into that bed and relax.”

Narrowing her eyes, Regina moved backwards to the bed and sat down. “If you’re gone more than two days I’m coming after you. Uh-- all of you, I mean. We can’t afford to lose numbers right now.”

He laughed softly, shaking his head and pressing a kiss to her hair. “Would it kill you to admit that you don’t want me dead?”

“I’ll never utter those words as long as I live,” she countered, looking up at him, but nodding slowly. “I’d like these two to grow up with a father, especially in a world like this.”

He moved his hands up to her arms, squeezing them gently. “I promise I will be cautious. It’ll be okay. I’ll be back before you even notice I’m gone.” 

Regina snorted, shaking her head at his words. She wouldn’t admit out loud that she would feel his absence every moment he was gone, had grown rather accustomed to having him spend most of each day with her since she’d been put on bedrest. “If it looks too dangerous, you leave.”

David gave her a sad smile, rubbing his hands up and down her arms and lowering his voice so Belle wouldn't hear. “You know I won't. I won't leave others in danger.”

“Please.”

He nodded, bringing one hand under her chin. “If it looks too dangerous, I will leave and come back here. I promise, I won't let these two grow up without me.” David kissed her forehead and pulled back to give him a faint smile. “Be good, your majesty.”

“Oh shut up and get out of my face,” she bit back, though the smile playing at her lips told him she was teasing. “Two days, David.”

David nodded once more, moving away and touching Belle’s arm to lead her from the room. “You go get ready. Also, can you find Snow for me? I’m going to talk to Granny, then to Robin’s room to get my things and talk to him about helping, otherwise we’ll have to figure something else out.” Belle nodded as they left the room, and the two went in separate directions.

 

It had taken them nearly two hours to leave the castle, half of which David spent convincing Snow that she wasn’t going to come with them. He knew it upset her, knew she wanted in on the adventure, but he knew he’d be less efficient at helping if he was constantly concerned about protecting her. At least at Regina’s castle, if something happened, Regina could protect her, and would, David knew that much. Robin had been agreeable to coming along and had left Roland to the care of the Merry Men for the duration of their leave. 

They set off on foot, heading to the castle and discussing plans, routes, and what they would do if they needed to abandon their mission. They had two advantages with Robin knowing the traps and best ways into the castle, and Belle knowing just about every room of the castle by heart and memory. David enjoyed her mind, the way she analyzed everything so thoroughly, it truly came in handy, and he realized that their minds must be the greatest thing Regina and Belle had in common. 

Robin was quiet, he seemed to be a man of few words when he was alone, thinking often and considering everything in front of him instead of jumping straight in, instead of charging, like David himself did. It was something he admired in the other man, and he was grateful for the team he had with him on this mission. After some time the conversation of plans lulled, letting the space between the three of them go silent, and Robin used the opportunity to take the lead, walking several feet ahead of them as he watched for dangers.

Belle set her stride with David’s, looking over at him for a moment, before speaking, “Regina’s having more than one baby?” 

He turned his head, taking in her expression, trying to see what she was thinking about it all. “She’s having twins.”

“You two seem to have grown closer since I left.”

“She’s important to me. She’s my friend, and the mother of-- uh, well, half my children anyway.” Sighing, David brought his hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s a mess.”

Belle gave a soft huff of laughter and nodded. “It does seem to be. What do you intend to do?”

He shrugged, looking in the opposite direction from her. “I don’t know. I can’t just cut Regina and our children out of my life, which is what Snow wants, or at least I’m certain it’s what she wants, but Snow is my True Love and I don’t…”

“You don’t what?”

“I just have no idea what to do. It’s a bit complicated to deal with right now. Once Zelena is taken care of I’ll have time to worry about how to balance three babies with two different women.”

Belle simply nodded again and looked for an easier subject. “What happened that put her on bedrest?”

“She was too stressed. She’d been in that library everyday, just as she was before you left to search for Rumplestiltskin. Her subject of research has changed several times, but not the hours she was putting in looking. She wasn’t eating enough, she wasn’t resting enough.” David scrubbed his hand over his face. “I should’ve noticed better, I should’ve…”

“There’s probably not much you could have done.”

“I saw her naked nearly every single day for weeks, I should have noticed it sooner and encouraged her to eat.” Belle cleared her throat awkwardly, and David realized what he’d said. “I’m sorry, I-- just ignore that.”

“That’s alright.” She shrugged, twisting her lips to the side, before speaking again, “Regina is stubborn, I’m certain you know that better than most. Even if you’d encouraged her to eat, or told her she wasn’t taking good enough care of herself, it wouldn’t have done anything more than annoy her. She’s a grown woman, she knows how she ought to take care of herself. That’s not your fault, David.”

He nodded, looking over at her again. He knew she was right, and he knew Regina likely felt the same way, that she didn’t hold him accountable for not making sure she was eating. She’d done the damage to herself, but still, he had sat by and watched her deteriorate and he hadn’t done enough to remind her she shouldn’t; he’d been too preoccupied giving himself space from both women that he hadn’t been there to remind her when she got too busy to remember herself. 

“I suppose you’re right,” David eventually agreed, and the continued on their travels.

 

Regina was bored. She’d expected she would be, without David to keep her company, but she hadn’t expected time to pass quite so slowly. Three-quarters of a day had passed, and while she’d tried to sleep, it wasn’t happening easily. Granny had practically forced three portions of bread and meat down her throat, along with chamomile, and had bathing water brought up for her, insisting she shouldn’t be using magic in her condition. She’d finally gotten up and started walking around, simply wandering around the room to distract herself from the lack of David’s warm body beside hers. 

She didn’t want to be left to her own devices. She didn’t want to have time to think about how much he meant to her and how much she wanted him with her, not when she knew he would never choose her. He would never leave his wife for her. Why would such a kind, sweet, if occasionally annoying and overly cocky man leave his perfect, pure wife for the Evil Queen? He wouldn’t. It didn’t matter how she felt, and Regina knew it was time to make herself acknowledge that. 

There was a knock at the door, and she knew almost immediately that it was Snow. The sound was too hesitant to be anyone else, and Granny would’ve just come in. Regina wasn’t in the mood, but she answered the door nonetheless, pulling it open to find the other woman. It amazed Regina how she looked so healthy, so full in her pregnancy, her cheeks pink and as round as always, her whole body filled out in a manner that showed she’d been taking proper care of herself while pregnant, that maybe she hadn’t been as stressed as Regina. That, or she’d been handling that stress better. 

“What do you need, Snow?” she asked, stepping aside to let the other woman in.

Stepping inside the room, Snow sighed, tugging lightly on her index finger with her opposite hand. “I just wanted to speak with you for a moment, if that’s alright?”

Regina nodded slowly, closing the door. “What do you need?”

“I… I need you to let David go.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I need you to let him go. He’s  _ my _ true love, Regina, not yours.” Snow hesitated then, looking away from her and sighing. “I want him back, but for some reason, he’s allowed you to dig your hooks into him, and I don’t understand why, but it isn’t fair. I need him. He’s mine, not yours, and you need to stop keeping him from me.”

Regina snorted, rolling her eyes and stepping a few paces away. “I’ve done nothing to keep him away from you. He visits me for hours at a time because I was just in danger, along with his children, and he wants to make sure I’m okay.”

“Then why didn’t he let me go with him? I know you had something to do with it!” Snow shook her head, giving a small shrug of her shoulders. “Regina, I just want you to let him go so I can have him back. He was never yours to take in the first place, and what you’ve done is bad enough, do you have to take him, too?”

“Stop the pity party before you actually lose him.”

“I have already lost him, Regina!”

“Have you? Because he chose to try to fix things with you when you told him you forgave him. Clearly you have not, because you made him feel bad for worrying about his babies, but that's something you need to work out on your own, not in my company. So stop your spoiled, petulant behavior and fix your stupid relationship with your stupid Prince Charming, and get out of my face.”

The younger woman tilted her head just slightly, narrowing her eyes as she watched Regina carefully. “... You love him.”

“I do not.”

“Yes you do, Regina. I know you, and I know what you look like in love. How could you fall for him? He is  _ my _ husband!”

“I don't love him, Snow, as usual, you're delusional and living in a world where you believe love is everywhere, even in places it doesn’t actually exist.”

“You’re lying. I don’t know why you care if I know, because you obviously didn’t care about my feelings when you were sleeping with my husband, but whatever the reason is, you can’t lie to me. You’re a terrible liar, and you always have been.”

Regina growled, taking a few steps until she was right in Snow’s face. “Get out of my room you annoying little child.” The force of her anger sent a sharp pain through her body and she cried out, both hands going to her stomach. 

“Regina? Regina are you alright?” Snow asked, dipping her head to look at the other woman's face. “What happened?”

She didn’t feel like she could talk, was too overwhelmed by another sharp pain. Reaching out, Regina grabbed Snow’s arm and looked at her, forcing herself to say, “Get Granny.” The younger woman nodded immediately, leaving the room to go find her.

  
  


When they got to the Dark Castle, Robin led them in, stopping the many traps that were laid out to prevent intruders, including one door that David nearly pulled open, before Robin shot at arrow at it and made it disappear. David stared at it in astonishment, but recovered quickly and led the other two in, where they found Rumplestiltskin in a cage. Belle hurried to it.

“Rumple. Oh Rumple, what has she done to you?”

“Rumple Bumple isn’t here. Rumple Bumple gone, my dear.”

“He really is back from the dead.” David looked at the caged man, shaken a bit to see him with his old skin, the scaly green skin.

“Dead. Dead. So much better dead.”

“He’s lost his mind.” 

“On the contrary! Now I have two-- two minds! Mining time. Digging deeper in the grime.”

“What is she doing to him?” Belle whimpered.

“Nothing that can’t be undone. Rumplestiltskin, we need your help. How do we stop Zelena?” Robin asked, stepping up to the cage.

“Round and round the circle of time, racing towards the finish line. 

“This is pointless,” David grumbled. 

“Let me try.” Belle moved closer to the cage, looking at him intently.  “Hey. Hey. Rumple.” She reached to take his hand, continuing, “Hey, hey. I know you’re in there. I know you can hear me. How do we stop Zelena?”

“Light.”

“W-what?”

“Light. Magic. The good witch of the south -- Glinda.”

“Glinda. B-but south of what? Oz?” Belle asked, confused and curious if even he knew what he was talking about.

“No! Banished! Here! The good witch of the south was banished north -- north of the dark forest.”

David cut in, taking a step closer. “How do we find her?”

“Through the door, step inside. If pure of heart, then she won’t hide,” he sung tauntingly, giggling after.

  
  


Regina had managed to make it back to the bed, but her pain hadn’t stopped and she wondered if she was going to lose the babies. She couldn’t, if she lost them she’d have nothing, but the pain was too intense, and they still needed several more weeks to grow. 

Granny arrived with Snow close behind, though the younger woman lingered by the door instead of entering fully, not wanting to anger Regina more. She didn’t want to claim that she was part of the reason Regina had erupted. So Granny examined her while Regina writhed in pain. The wolf listened to the babies’ heartbeats, holding her hands on the queen’s belly to focus on only that sound. After a long moment, she pulled her hands back and over to meet Regina’s eyes.

“I need you to try to do something with magic, child.”

Regina nodded, gritting her teeth and wincing at another sharp pain. “What is it?”

“You’re in labor. I don’t know how long these things are supposed to go for with twins, but I know that this is too early. Is there any way that you can speed up their growth in the womb so that when we deliver them, they’re stronger than they will be right now?”

She hadn’t thought of that, wouldn’t have in a million years, but Regina knew Granny was right; the babies were not strong enough to come now, but if they were anyway, something needed to be done to ensure their safety. So she nodded, holding her hands to her belly and thinking over it quickly, hoping it would bring them no harm. But she couldn’t let them die, so she sent a pulse of magic into her center, hoping whatever she’d done for them would be enough.

Granny listened once more, giving Regina a faint smile and nodding. “Their hearts sound much stronger. Good girl. Now let’s get you comfortable; you’re having these babies in the next twenty-four hours.”

“No. No no, no that’s too soon,” she whimpered, shaking her head and curling onto her side, bringing her legs up and keeping them tight together.

“You just helped the babies, it’s okay. They can come and I’m certain they’ll be just fine,” she reassured Regina.

“David isn’t back yet. I can’t do this without him. He should be here, they’re his babies, too. He needs to be here.” Regina shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I won’t push. I won’t try to make them come if he isn’t here. Send someone to find him.”

“Who can go?” Granny asked in bewilderment, and Regina had a thought. 

“Send Red with one of the Merry Men. She’ll be able to find him. Tell them to take two horses, then David can hurry back. Please? I don’t… I can’t…” She didn’t finish the words, for another sharp pain struck her and Regina cried out, clutching the bedding on either side of her in her fists. 

“I’ll be right back.” Granny got up, going to Snow, who was still standing by the door. “Go tell Red to go. Tell her to take someone, and to go as quickly as possible. I don’t think these babies will be much longer. And then you come back here, understand?” The princess nodded, heading off to do as told, and Granny returned to the bed. “Regina, I need to check you to see if you’re dilated at all. Did your water break?”

“No.” Regina watched as the other woman grabbed a pair of shears and settled on the bed by her feet. “What are you doing?”

“I need to cut part of this sleeping gown off, Regina, it’s too long and there’s not enough room.” The brunette nodded her understanding, and so Granny separated the fabric of her robe from that of her nightgown and cut the latter at mid-thigh, making far more space for Regina to open her legs than it had been allowing before. Getting up, Granny set the shears back down and then returned to the bed, nudging Regina’s thighs open. “This isn’t gonna feel good, but it’ll be quick. I just need to see how open your cervix is.”

Before she could help Regina out of her underclothing, there was a gush of fluid and Granny shook her head. “That was your water, child. We’re going to see now, okay? But since your water broke, I don’t think it’ll be that much longer.” Regina cried out with another sharp pain and the realization that she might just be having these babies alone. This wasn’t supposed to happen, even if she and David hadn’t been spending so much time together, she never thought she’d end up having to do this with nobody at her side.

Snow came back, just barely stepping into the room to tell them that Red and one of the Merry Men were on their way to find the trio of people. Granny nodded gruffly, then told her to come over and hold Regina’s hand. Both women had glared at her at the suggestion, but Granny shook her head.

“You two need to stop this fighting. There are things you obviously need to discuss and get worked out, but right now you’re all Regina has, Snow, and I know you know what it’s like to go through labor, don’t you dare tell me you honestly believe she should be doing this alone, regardless of how you feel about the babies’ parentage.” 

With a reluctant nod, Snow moved to Regina’s side at the bed and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “I can handle it,” she told her softly. “Squeeze as hard as you have to.”

 

They’d left almost as confused as they were when they had gotten there, and David wasn’t certain that they’d be able to find this Witch they were supposed to look for, but for now, they were heading back to the castle to talk it over with Regina and Snow and see if either of them had any input or knowledge of the good witch of the south. Hearing a horse, he looked up and his heart nearly stopped when he saw Red coming toward them, followed by one of Robin’s men. They’d only made it part of the way back, but he didn’t figure it was a good sign if someone came to look for them. “What’s wrong?” he asked immediately, watching her slow down on the horse. 

“Regina’s in labor. Snow said to come quick.” She slid down off the horse, holding the reins to him. 

“Are you riding with me?” he asked. Red shook her head, so he looked at Belle. “You?”

“No, you go. You’ll get there faster if you’re the only one on the horse,” she assured him. David got himself up, saying a quick goodbye and racing off to the castle, a thousand thoughts running through his mind as he made his way there. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d led a horse at such a fast speed, but he had no desire to miss the birth of his and Regina’s children, and he needed to make sure she was okay. 

 

She let out another scream that could probably be heard through the castle, squeezing her thighs together and pushing her hips off the bed with the force of it. Once the contraction subsided, Regina turned her face into one of the pillows at her head and whimpered. “I can’t do this. I can’t. Where’s David? Why isn’t he here yet?” She’d been dealing with the contractions for what seemed like hours now and she knew there wasn’t going to be much more time, and he needed to get here quickly.

Snow sighed, tentatively bringing her free hand up and pushing Regina’s hair back from her sweaty forehead. “He’ll be here. You know David, he always manages to find a way. But Regina, you look at me,” she told her firmly, waiting until chocolate eyes opened and looked up at her. “Of all the things you’ve been through and dealt with, you can’t tell me labor is the worst. You  _ can _ do this. I know you can. You’re strong enough. You just have to try, okay?”

For some reason, Snow’s words encouraged her and she nodded. “Okay.” Regina pursed her lips, looking at Granny, who was checking her again.

“It’s time, Regina.”

She nodded once more, tears spilling from her eyes as she accepted that the people in this room were all she was going to have for this, and she shifted on the bed so she could push as needed. Regina met the older woman’s eyes. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Granny looked over at Doc, who Snow had gone to retrieve a little while before, and who had brought clean blankets and sheets for the babies when they came, had sterilized the shears for cutting the umbilical cord, along with bringing a few other things they’d need. He was ready for them. Looking at Regina once more, Granny nodded. “Okay, you’re going to push on the next contraction, alright? It’ll take a few before the first baby comes out.”

Regina waited for it, waited until she felt her body tightening and that tugging pain in her abdomen to grow, and she squeezed Snow’s hand, gritting her teeth and screaming through them and she pushed and pushed hard. When the contraction subsided, she took in a sharp breath, then panted heavily, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. 

“Okay, that was good, really good, Regina. I need one just like it,” Granny told her.

Snow, who still had her right hand in Regina’s right hand, brought her left arm up and cradled Regina’s head on top of the several pillows that had been put there. “Just think about how beautiful those babies will be,” she murmured, though the hint of sadness was still there. “You’ll get to hold them soon and you’ll forget about this part.”

Regina didn’t have time to respond; she could feel her body gearing up for the next contraction. She pushed again, this time screaming a little louder, collapsing a little harder back into the pillows when the contraction ended. She was crying again, and she knew it wasn’t from the pain of giving birth. It was from the ache of both who was beside her and who wasn’t. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she wasn’t ready to push again, but she could feel it coming. 

“I can see the head, Regina, one more big push, okay?” Granny told her.

Gripping Snow’s hand tightly again, she pushed harder than she had before, crying out and screaming. Finally, she felt relief when she heard the fussing cry of a baby right as the door crashed open and David walked in. Her tears came harder then, so glad he was here and thrilled to hear the baby cry,  _ her  _ baby. 

David rushed to the free side of the bed, surprised to see Snow on one side of her. He kicked his boots off quickly, climbing into the bed and tossing some of the pillows away so he could cradle Regina’s body against his. He kissed her hair, smiling against her. “You’re doing so good.” He looked at Granny. “So?”

The older woman was placing the baby into a towel that Doc was holding. “We have a beautiful baby girl.” 

Regina smiled, turning her head to look at David. “We have a girl.”

He nodded with a wide smile to match hers. “We have a baby girl,” he echoed.

Doc brought the baby up to them, holding her out for Regina, who looked at Granny to see if it was okay.

“Go ahead, I think you’ll have a couple minutes to rest before the next baby will be ready, just make sure you pay attention if you feel a contraction coming.” Glad for her words, Regina took the baby and cradled her to her chest, running her finger over her cheek, then her nose. 

“Look at you, sweet baby.”

Snow averted her gaze from the scene that looked so much like a happy family. It hurt her, as much as she was happy to see Regina happy. But she didn't want to stay and watch, so she turned to leave.

Regina looked up, watching Snow and feeling a pang of sympathy for her, though she knew it wouldn't be long before she'd have this moment with David, too. “Snow?” When the other woman turned back and looked at her, Regina held out her precious little girl. “Would you like to hold her while I push? I think it's time.”

Surprised, Snow nodded and held her arms out, taking the tiny baby, cradling her against her chest. She was so warm and sweet, and Snow couldn't believe she'd ever been resentful toward these babies. Regina, yes, but not the babies. 

Sure enough, nearly as soon as she let go of her new daughter, Regina felt the strong grasp of pain clutching at her again and she reached blindly for David’s hands, taking them and squeezing them as Granny told her to push. She cried out, the pain of already having pushed one out adding to the pain of the contractions. When it was gone, she panted again, dropping her head back against David and whimpering. She was so tired, and there was nothing more she wanted to do than to hold her babies, feed them, and then sleep.

But nearly as soon as she’d started to relax, another contraction was gripping her, tightening her insides to make the baby come out. Regina squeezed David’s hands again, his fingers going white around her grip, and he tightened his legs at her sides so she could brace herself better against him while she pushed. This time the scream she gave was strong at first, but tapered off as her throat grew weak. She sighed, trying to take a moment when her contraction ended, but the next came right away, hardly giving her time to take a fresh breath.

“This is it, Regina. This is the last push for now, so push hard and we’ll have your other baby here in no time,” Granny encouraged, readying herself to get the baby.

Regina obeyed, giving with all of her might and clenching her teeth, a rough groan slipping between them, and then it was over. There was the other cry, strong lungs, and oh how her arms ached to hold the baby. 

Granny wiped the baby off, then laid it in the blanket Doc was holding out and giving Regina and David a bright smile. Doc carried the baby to the side of the bed, holding the bundle out for Regina, and Granny nodded. “And there’s your son.”


	15. Chapter 15

Regina was exhausted and very ready to sleep, but she couldn’t take her eyes off her beautiful babies, so tiny and perfect, her sweet little boy and little girl. David was settled beside her up against the headboard, their girl snuggled up against his chest while she held their son. Snow had left with Granny and Doc, leaving the room uncomfortably as David and Regina traded their babies in elation and fussed over every perfect feature on their miniature faces and counted their fingers and toes. 

So now, while it was quiet and calm, both babies having been fed and diapered in cloth, something Granny had had to show both of them how to do, Regina knew she ought to be sleeping, should catch up on rest that she would soon be deprived of. But she couldn’t stop staring. David rubbed the soft tufts of dark hair on their daughter’s head, then turned to look at Regina.

“I can’t get over how perfect they are,” he murmured.

She nodded, reaching over to rub her finger on the little girl’s cheek. “Me neither. They’re beyond anything I ever could have imagined.”

“So…” he started, looking at her with raised eyebrows.

“So?” 

“What are we naming them? I’d like to have something to call them.”

Regina smiled faintly, looking down at the little boy in her arms who already so obviously resembled his father. “Well, I was thinking Lucas…  _ David _ , for this one.” She bounced him, shifting him so they both could look at him, bringing her knees up and resting him against them. 

“Regina, I…” David trailed off, looking at her with watery eyes. When she met his gaze, she was surprised at how much weighted affection he was displaying, and she gave a little shrug.

“You’re his father, and you’ve become a good friend to me. I didn’t want to, uh, make his first name David, in case you have a boy with Snow and she wants to… well it just didn’t seem fair. But this seems like a good option, too. And I thought Lucas, since Granny has done so much for these babies, for me.”

“It’s great, Regina, really. Thank you.” Leaning over, he kissed her forehead affectionately, then rested his head against hers. “And I’m sure Granny will feel honored. So now we have little Lucas, and what will we be calling this one? Mini-Regina?”

“No, no,” she answered, smiling with pleasure that from what they could tell, their daughter was very much going to look like her. “She is Lydia Joan.”

“... Joan? As in--”

“As in after the woman who helped teach her father a skill that helped him become the man he is now? Yes,” she answered softly, reaching over again to stroke her finger down Lydia’s tiny nose. 

“No names for anyone significant to you? Or named after you?”

She didn’t remind him that she’d just named their son after him, nor about how significant David was to her and how that in itself was something for her as much as it was for him, instead she just shrugged. “I have Henry Daniel already, and there’s really no one else I would want to name a child after. Besides, I don’t need them to be named for me or anything, I have them, and you gave them to me, so it’s only right to honor such a gift.” Regina looked at him again, heart tightening at how sweetly he was looking at her, and she needed him to stop, couldn’t bear seeing so much adoration from him when the feelings behind it weren’t like her own. So, in an attempt to lighten the moment, she grinned and added, “Besides, there really aren’t many middle names that go well with Lydia.”

David grinned, shaking his head and shifted their daughter to lay the same way Regina had Lucas resting, so the babies were side by side and both could look at their son and daughter fully. “You really did so amazing tonight.”

“Mm, piece of cake.” She chuckled, shaking her head. 

“I’m proud of you.” He kissed her hair, then rested his head against hers as he watched their babies. “For… trying, for reaching out to Snow. For being strong enough to give birth. For being so good to them already.”

“Thank you.” Regina didn’t know what else to say, so she merely quieted and listened to Lucas and Lydia’s soft breaths. “They’re the most amazing little creatures. I’ve never held such a small baby before. Babies, rather. They’re so small.”

David smiled, nodding. “Me neither. Emma wasn’t this small when she was born. She was probably two pounds heavier or so.” He kissed her head once more, breathing in a slow, deep breath. “You should sleep, Regina. I can’t feed them for you, so you should get as much sleep as you can while they’re calm.”

She nodded, too, knowing he was right, but still not wanting to take her eyes off them. “Are you going to stay in here with them?”  _ With me _ , she added silently, refusing to say that part out loud to him. 

“Of course. Well, why don’t you curl up with them and I’ll go look for a bassinet or a crib.”

Turning her gaze to him, she pursed her lips, rolling them together after. “There’s a nursery in the south wing. There’s only one bassinet, but they should be fine sleeping together for now.”

David didn’t ask, wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he stood up and settled Lydia onto the bed just a few inches away from Regina, then held his arms out for Lucas. “Here, you guys get some sleep, and when they get up to eat, we’ll settle them in the bassinet, okay?”

She couldn’t fight sleep much longer; her eyelids were drooping and she felt as though she’d pass out holding the babies if she didn’t sleep soon. So, Regina let him take Lucas as she scooched down the bed and resettled herself. “Thank you, David,” she murmured, closing her eyes.

  
  


It wasn’t until after two feedings and very short naps in between that Regina realized David had never told her how their search for Rumple had gone. She sat up in the bed, stretching languidly as she peeked over into the bassinet to find the twins still sleeping. Nudging him with her palm against his shoulder, Regina waited as he slowly blinked awake. 

“Morning,” he grumbled, shoving his face into the pillow and blindly reaching for her to pull her close. “Sleeping babies mean sleeping adults.”

“We need to talk.”

David pushed up on one elbow, leaving his other arm wrapped around her waist as he looked over at her. “I’d prefer that we sleep.”

“I’m serious, David. With the babies coming and being preoccupied with that, I never got to hear how it went trying to find Rumple. Did you guys talk to him?”

Sighing, he nodded and swiped his hand over his face in exhaustion. “Yeah, but he wasn’t fully there. I don’t know what Zelena did to him, but he’s not really Rumplestiltskin.”

“What do you mean?” She furrowed her brows together, shifting carefully to lay on her side.

“I don’t know. He was rambly and not very coherent. But he said that the person who has the answer to defeating Zelena is the good witch of the south. Apparently she was banished north of the dark forest and that’s where we have to go to find her.” He shook his head, wrapping his arm around her waist and tugging her to him. “Now can we go back to sleep before these two wake up?”

Surprised he pulled her back into his hold, Regina nodded and settled down against him. “Remind me we need to discuss it more later.” All she received for confirmation was a nod of his head and a soft grumble, along with a handful of soft kisses to her temple. All of which was enough to settle her into a light sleep against his warm body.

 

Crying came less than an hour later, soft whimpers at first, then sharp fussing that had Regina groaning and scooting away from David, sitting up on the edge of the bed and reaching for Lydia. She had no idea how to get used to breastfeeding two babies at once, so she’d start with one for now, which Granny had told her would be better until the babies were good at feeding on their own without needing help latching anyway. She scooped up Lydia, since she was crying harder, and settled in against the headboard, setting her up to drink. Lucas was still fussing, his cries growing louder without response, so Regina nudged her foot against David’s side, making him grumble as he woke up.

He was slow, lazily sitting up and reaching over her legs to take Lucas from the bassinet. Drawing him close, David shifted on the bed and sat back against the headboard next to Regina, gently bouncing the baby and shushing him softly. “It’s okay, honey, your mama will be ready to feed you soon. As soon as she’s done with your sister.”

Regina watched him, smiling as he talked to the baby. Lydia stopped suckling, so Regina brought her finger under the baby’s chin and rubbed it, causing her to start suckling again. Granny had been in to visit earlier, one of the times the babies had cried to eat, and she’d brought David and Regina food. She’d explained to Regina that the babies would likely cluster feed for a few days, eat often, but not much for each feeding, not until they grew a little bigger. There was so much Regina didn’t know, didn’t understand, things her readings hadn’t informed her of, and she was terrified of what it meant. She’d raised Henry, and he’d turned out so well so far, but she had no idea what to do to that point. And he’d been entirely bottle fed, and it was so much less exhausting. But she hoped she would catch on in a day or two, would have some sort of a rhythm, a system of sorts, for dealing with two at once, especially for when David and Snow’s child was born, because she knew her help would diminish then to nearly nothing, if anything at all. 

Lydia finished eating fairly quickly, and Regina turned to David, who held his free arm out to cradle her in. She settled their daughter in his hold, then scooped up Lucas and settled in to feed him on her other side. It amazed her that her body was programmed to do this, designed to care for these babies she birthed, and incredibly thankful that it was working, because there wasn’t such a thing as a wet nurse right now, at least not for her, and she wasn’t sure she could magic formula. They ran low on goat’s milk as it was for the small children that were already residing in the castle, they’d be screwed if she had needed it for two infants.

As Lucas suckled, she looked over at David and nudged him lightly with her elbow. “What are we going to do about Rumple? And about this good witch?”

He turned his head, meeting her eyes and shrugging. “I don’t know. I don’t want to go find a witch, good or not, without you, but now we have the babies here, but what can we do?”

Considering for a moment, she sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe we could wait a week, see how the babies are feeding then, wait until they eat, and go right after? We can use my magic to get us as close as possible. Maybe we could get back before the babies got hungry again.”

“We can try that. I don’t think we can wait much longer than that, though. We need to, uh, I need to try to get this taken care of as soon as possible.” David sighed, looking down at Lydia. “We need to know how to defeat Zelena.”

Regina nodded slowly. “I know. We’ll figure it out, David. I promise I’ll take care of it. We’ll get it taken care of. I’m not going to let her hurt your baby.”

He turned his gaze back to her, a faint smile on his lips. “Thank you, Regina. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Letting out a soft snort, Regina shook her head. “I’m fairly certain your life would’ve been far easier without me in it.”

“And so boring.” David chuckled, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “You know what I mean anyway. I appreciate you caring enough to help, despite your history with Snow and everything… else.”

“Of course. I took away your first child, I feel I owe it to you to make sure nothing happens to any of your children again. At least as well as my abilities allow.”

“Well I appreciate that.” He noticed Lucas had stopped suckling, and seemed to be sleeping now, so David reached over and gently stroked the baby’s jaw. “Do you want to have a ceremony to announce them? Or just sorta tell everyone their names when asked?”

“No ceremony. We’ll tell as asked. I know Granny wanted me to tell her earlier, but maybe tomorrow.” Regina leaned forward to lay Lucas down so she could change his diaper, then motioned for David to put Lydia down, so she could change her, too, and get them in bed. Getting up, David gathered Lucas, kissing his forehead and swaddling him. He laid him in the bassinet, then repeated his actions with Lydia when Regina was finished with her. 

“All set, then?” he asked.

“Yeah, let’s see if we can get more sleep.” And this time, when they settled in next to each other, they lay there, wide awake, her body snug against his side and her head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. She waited until the rise and fall of his chest was slow and even, the telltale sign that he was solidly asleep, then she kissed his chest and looked up at his peaceful face, murmuring, “I love you, David,” freely to his sleeping form, for it was something she couldn’t say to him awake.


End file.
